


not much of a hero

by dis_cat_ded



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda (Video Game 1986), Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Hyrule (Linked Universe) Angst, Hyrule (Linked Universe)-centric, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), One-Shots, Soft Legend (Linked Universe), also they arent very long but eh, hyrule is very quiet, hyrule loves his... hyrule, if ur here for legend and warriors content thats in chapter 11 lol, ill add more characters if they end up being an important part of one of the one-shots, tws are in the chapter summaries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27513691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dis_cat_ded/pseuds/dis_cat_ded
Summary: A bunch of Hyrule angst one-shots that are sort of connected that i made bc I was bored but it ended up becoming a bigger project than i intendedAlso no editing bc we die like fucking idiots
Relationships: Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Wild (Linked Universe), Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 134





	1. hello!

"Hello! Are you named Link?"

He tilted his head, looking over the large group, then shook his head. “No,” he lied, his voice barely rising over a whisper.

Someone groaned. “Goddess-dammit, I just want to get out of this wasteland already!”

“Hey!” he exclaimed, raising his voice slightly. “This isn’t a wasteland!”

The one that made the comment frowned, crossing his arms. “Then tell me why I haven’t seen any signs of life in the past three days?”

“The hero did his best to save this world. He and the princesses are working hard to restore it, and complaining about it does nothing. If you want life, Nabooru Town is over that way.” He pointed off in the direction of the nearest town, and after a pause, the big scary man that appeared to be the group leader nodded.

“Alright. Thank you, traveler.”

He nervously watched as the group went in the direction he pointed, then quietly sighed in relief. He wasn’t sure why he was so relieved that they hadn’t questioned him, but he had been too nervous to think straight. That big man was scary.

He saw them again in Darunia Town. Well, he saw the grumpy one that had called his home a wasteland. He ignored him in favor of the shop, quickly opening the door and going inside. The door opened behind him as he was looking for the magic potions. He didn’t look to see who it was, deciding that he didn’t care. It was probably just the grumpy guy coming to insult his home even more. 

“Um, hey.”

He didn’t look up, instead picking up a potion to look at the label, not that he could read it.

“About yesterday, when I called this place a… a wasteland, I didn’t, uh, mean it.”

He looked back at the grumpy guy. “What?”

“I said I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“It’s clear how much you love this place. I didn’t mean to offend you when I said that. I was just… frustrated, I guess.” The guy crossed his arms and looked away. “We’ve been looking for someone for a while and haven’t found him.”

“Oh.”

He looked back at him, looking confused. “Is that all you're going to say? “Oh?””

“Oh! Uh, no. Sorry. Who is it that you’re trying to find, again?”

“A guy named Link. Y’know, the hero.”

“I… wouldn't call him much of a hero.”

The shopkeeper looked over and grunted. “Don’t sell yourself short, kid.”

He nearly dropped the potion he was holding out of surprise. “I, uh, sorry.”

The shopkeeper smiled. “Y’don’t need to say sorry.”

Meanwhile, the grumpy guy seemed awfully surprised. “ _ You’re _ Link? I thought you said you weren’t!”

He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh, uh, yeah. I guess I did. I don’t really know why, I was just a little nervous? I guess?”

“Well then, i think you might need to come talk to Time.”

“Time?”

“He’s the leader. C’mon.”

The grumpy guy grabbed his arm and started trying to lead him out of the shop, but he protested. “Hey! I still need to pay for this!”

The guy stopped with a sigh. “Fine. Then you need to come with me, though.”

Soon, the potion was paid for, and they were heading to the newly built inn. They went inside, and as soon as he saw the group seated at one of the tables, he realized who exactly this “Time” was. He gulped, really  _ really _ hoping he didn’t have to talk to him.

“Hey. I found the guy we’re looking for.”

The grumpy guy held his arm up, and everyone turned to look at him. 

”Uh… hi?” he began, his voice even quieter than usual.

“That’s Link?”

The grumpy guy nodded. “Said he lied about not being Link yesterday. Something about being nervous.”

The one with a fur cape thing tilted his head. “He seems pretty nervous right about now.”

The grumpy guy looked over at him, lowering his arm. Then he looked back at the guy with the cape and nodded. “Yeah. Anyway, i found him, so we should be able to leave pretty soon.”

Then the big guy spoke. He was a little less frightening without his armor, but still not very approachable. “Hang on a second, Legend. I know you haven’t been traveling with us as lng as some of the others, but you should still know that we need to explain some things before we just take him and leave.”

“Yeah, I’m not an idiot. Unlike some people.”

There was an indignant “Hey!” from the guy with the scarf, and the grumpy guy snorted. “I wasn’t necessarily talking about you, captain. Anyway, kid, I guess some introductions are in place? I’m Legend.”

The scarf guy smirked. “”Kid?” I think you’re going soft.”

Legend glared at him, quickly dropping his hand. “I wasn’t using it as an affectionate term. Anyway, what am i supposed to call him? Link?”

“Uh, well, that is my name-”

“Do you really think my name is Legend? Do you think the old man is actually named Time?”

“Uh, no, I guess not. But why do you have the nicknames-”

He was interrupted by the guy with the scarf. “Speaking of nicknames, I’m Warriors.”

Soon, everybody had been introduced. He wasn’t really sure what to think of this all. He also wasn’t sure what to think of the fact that nobody had told him what was even up with the nicknames.

“So, why do you have nicknames, again?” he repeated.

There was a long silence, then Twilight leaned forward.

"Sorry, didn't catch that. What'd ya say?"

"Oh, uh, sorry-"

"You're gonna have to speak up, kid," Legend said.

"Oh. Sorry," he said again, louder this time. "I was, uh, wondering, why do you have nicknames?"

Time chuckled. “We might have to go somewhere more private to explain that, seeing as how you were so hesitant to tell us your name.”

“W-why would that be?”

Time only smiled. He wasn’t sure he liked that. Maybe he could…

“Um, so, uh, where are you from? Saria Town?”

Time stared at him like he was insane for a bit, then shook his head. “Er, yes.”

Everyone else looked at him like this was news to them. He wasn’t sure what to think of this.

He began to back away, smiling nervously. “I just remembered, there’s something important i need to do-”

He turned to bolt away, but Legend grabbed his arm. He was flooded with fear, and he immediately lashed out. He kicked Legend’s legs right out from under him, then got the hell out of there. He ran as fast as he could, nearly tripping over himself several times. He didn’t trust those people. He didn’ like that they wanted to take him away, and he didn’t like that they were from Saria Town, where the monster people were. No- it was just the one guy. And that was the same guy that had mentioned taking him to an out of the way place. He didn’t trust that guy in particular, because he was big and scary and suspicious and from Saria Town which was where the monster people were. The others were fine, and he liked Legend even though he had called his home a wasteland, but he didn’t like Time. And maybe Warriors. 

He ran down the mountain and into a forest, where he collapsed into a heap.

He wanted to trust them, he really did…

\---

Legend sat up, brushing his hair out of his face. “What the  _ fuck _ was that for?”

Warriors walked over and absently grabbed Legend’s hand to help him up, staring at the door. “He seemed jumpy.”

Legend nodded, brushing off his tunic. After a moment, he said, “I’m going after him.”

“What?”

“I’m going after him.”

He hurried out of the inn and down the road, down the mountain, then stopped. He looked around, then wandered into the nearby forest. Hopefully this was where the kid was…

Sure enough, he soon heard heavy breathing. He quickly walked toward the sound, and found the kid kneeling on the ground, curled in on himself.

“You okay?”

“Please don’t kill me… I’m too tired to fight...”

He opened his mouth, though he was unsure of what to say. Finally, he thought of something. “I’m no monster. I just want to help you.” He paused, then added, “And we’re searching for your help.”

“I’m not helping a group of monsters.”

“Eh- monsters? We aren’t monsters. Well, I’m pretty sure.”

“That’s what he wants you to think.”

“Who?”   
“The big scary guy. He’s a monster, I can tell. And he said he’s from Saria Town, which is where all the monsters live.”

“He’s not even from this time. None of us are.”

The kid sat up. Finally. That position couldn’t have been comfortable.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re all heroes of different eras, brought together by some strange portals-”

He turned his head to look at Legend. “Heroes?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why would you want me? I’m no hero. I’m just some kid that was given a sword.”

“Is your name Link?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Did you defeat Ganon or some other sort of evil?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you help people? Save them from danger?”

“Yes and yes.”

“Then you’re a hero.”

“You don’t understand. I only fight to keep myself from danger. I keep myself from danger because… because if I don’t, something terrible would happen, and I love my home too much to let that happen. I only do this for myself, just like every other person here. Like I said, I’m just some kid that was given a sword.”

He closed his eyes and sighed, then stood up and turned to face Legend. “But… I guess I could come with you. If it keeps my home safe.”

Legend smiled- how rare- and held his hand out for the kid. “What do you want us to call you? Link would be too confusing.”

The kid stepped forward and took his hand. “I think… Hyrule. Like my home.”

“A bit odd for a nickname, but it works. Now, let's get going, kid. I don’t want Wars telling me how long I took.”

The kid- Hyrule- smiled, and they went back up the mountain towards town.


	2. "i really dont mind"

It had been weeks and they still barely knew anything about Hyrule. All they knew was that he considered all of Hyrule his home, and that he had healing magic.

He had made quick friends with Wild, who, unlike him, had spilled his entire backstory to the group at once, only prompted by the question of how he got his scars.

Sometimes, Hyrule looked at those scars and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. He felt as if he had had it so much easier than everyone else, with only a blood curse to worry about. And the monsters in other Hyrules didn’t even know about it, so it wasn’t like he had to think about it anywhere but his home.

Other times, he looked at those scars and felt proud because  _ wow, his friends were so strong. _ So much stronger than he could ever be.

Even though it had been weeks, he still found himself afraid of Time. He wished he felt otherwise, but he was just so… big and scary. He hated how he flinched every time Time laid a hand on him- though, now that he thought about it, he did that with everyone. Touch was a strange thing, and he wasn’t sure if he liked it yet. 

He wasn’t sure what to think of Legend. Talking to him was a bit daunting. He was crabby and irritable, but he was nicer to Hyrule than he was to anyone else. Hyrule chalked it up to their first interactions, deciding that it was because Legend knew more about him than anyone else. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t just as distant.

Legend never told them anything about himself. It was strange, to know so much about one person and so little about another person in the same group. Hyrule never told anyone much about himself either, though, so he couldn’t complain much. He couldn’t complain much about anything, really. 

Like he said, he had it easy. 

He held fast to that idea, not changing his mind no matter what kind of wonderful things everyone else had to help that he didn’t. After all, they likely only had those things because otherwise their quests would have been impossible. Sure, a map would’ve been incredibly useful, but did he really  _ need  _ it? Anyway, it wasn’t like it would help. He’d probably get lost anyway. That’s what everybody else said.

He ignored how much nicer everyone else’s Hyrules were. He ignored that Legend, the person with the deadliest and most unwelcoming Hyrule was the one that called his home a wasteland. A wasteland! You would only call the most barren and empty of places a wasteland. 

But he ignored that. It wasn’t like you could compare a recovering land like his home to a place like Sky’s Faron Woods. All bright and colorful and lush. It almost made his head hurt.

He pretended he hadn’t started hating his home, the place he had loved with his entire being for so long.

But you could only ignore things and pretend they weren’t there for so long.

So when they were brought to Hyrule’s Hyrule (what a mouthful) for the first time since finding him, and everyone started groaning and complaining, he just kind of… stood there. Watching. Listening as they berated his home. He hated it, and he hated that he couldn’t help but agree.

Then they all looked at him. He must have looked miserable, because they all looked guilty and started apologizing. He didn’t even bother responding, knowing that he wouldn’t be loud enough for anyone to hear. 

He would have liked to say he had begun speaking loud enough for people to always hear the first time, but it wasn’t true. He wished he could’ve said he had made some sort of progress with something since meeting the Heroes, but it seemed there was no progress to be made. 

He was no “hero.” He was just a helpful traveler who wanted to help where he could. He wasn’t up to anyone’s expectations, just like his home.

His home. He called all of Hyrule his home. Probably because he had no real home. The princesses had offered to let him live in the castle, but it felt wrong. He wanted to explore, to do more than just sit in a castle all day doing nothing. To be a hero, helping people.

Some hero he was, letting the place he was supposed to protect be a place outsiders hated and dreaded going to. A place his  _ friends _ hated so much they forgot he was there. 

He felt hands on his shoulders belonging to a person apologizing profusely and asking if he was okay. He shook the hands off and stepped back. 

“It’s okay,” he whispered. He had been right in assuming that his voice would be next to useless. “I really don’t mind.”

Just another lie he told himself.


	3. lost in your own home

He led the group to the new Castle Town with a smile. When they got there, he told them to find the inn, promising that he knew where it was, then went inside the castle.

It was a wonder he managed to get to the town without getting lost. Especially when he hadn’t been home in a long while. Whatever.

He wandered through the castle until he found one of the princesses. It took about an hour before he came across Dawn, who was also wandering the halls.

“Zellie!” he exclaimed, running over to her.

“Link! It’s been so long! Where have you been?”

“It’s a long story, but some heroes from different eras found me and now we’re all travelling together.”

“Another adventure, then? I wish I could leave to go explore with you. I hear there are some beautiful views in the mountains.”

Hyrule nodded. “There are. I wouldn’t recommend leaving now, though. There are monsters around that are more powerful than they should be. The heroes and I have been calling them infected, because they have black blood. That’s what I’ve come to tell you.”

Dawn pressed her lips together in a thin line. “I’ll have to inform Zel about this.”

“Good idea.”

They stood in silence for a moment. Then, Dawn broke it, speaking more quietly than before.

“Is everything alright? You’re much quieter than usual, and it seems like there’s something else you want to tell me.”

Hyrule frowned, looking down. “I… yes. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

Dawn reached forward and took one of his hands. “Link, I can tell something’s bothering you. Why else would I ask?”

He took a shaky breath, then looked up at her. “I know. I just… I...”

After a moment, Dawn smiled reassuringly. “Why don’t we find a place to sit?”

He nodded, and they began walking.

They walked for a while, and eventually came to the library. Hyrule hadn’t been in here very often, seeing as he couldn’t read much. He still liked it- there were countless soft chairs to sit on, and it had a very homey feel. He just preferred seating outside.

They took a seat on a couch in a small room off to the side. After they were settled, Dawn looked up at him and asked, “What’s bothering you?”

He took a deep breath, then started talking. “The heroes and I travel between eras using portals. A lot of us are super far apart, like the champion, who’s at least ten thousand years after whoever was before him. And a lot changes in that amount of time, of course. So when we go to their Hyrules, and everything is beautiful and colorful and there's lot of plants and things everywhere, I feel like I've failed my own home, because everything here is brown and boring and horrible. And then when we came here, and, and everyone started saying they hated it here, and they didn't want to be here, and they'd rather be anywhere else than here, I- I feel terrible, because I've let down my friends, and the people I look up to, and I… I can’t help but start to hate this place because of it. I’ve started to hate my own home.”

Dawn was silent. She seemed unsure of what to say.

After waiting a moment and getting no response, Hyrule apologized. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bothering you with things like this, I’m sure you’re busy-”

Dawn quickly interrupted, resting a hand on his shoulder. “No, no, Link, it’s fine. You can come to me any time to talk.”

He looked up at her and smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, knowing he wouldn’t be doing that. Not that he really could, anyway.

\---

Hyrule made his way back to the inn, not really feeling any better. He kicked a rock down the now deserted road. It was getting quite late. He should focus more on getting back, but he didn’t, knowing that he’d just get lost anyway. When he had said he knew where the inn was earlier, he had been lying. He hadn’t been to Castle Town much, since it was new, and he preferred wandering. The only times he had really stayed overnight were when he visited the castle, and that barely even counted because he always slept inside the castle.

He sighed, looking up from the ground. He didn’t recognize anything. Wonderful. He really should have expected this a little more. He stopped walking and closed his eyes. He was getting tired. Maybe he should just give up on trying to find his way back. It would be lighter out n the morning, and he’d be able to focus better.

So, he found an alley to sit down in and get some rest.

Funny that the so-called “Hero of Hyrule” was sleeping in an alleyway. Not that it was really that different from sleeping in a cave.

\---

Hyrule was awoken by something cool and wet nudging his cheek. He heard a whine and blinked his eyes open to see what it was. Wolfie.

“Hey, buddy,” he said, smiling. “How’re you doing?”

He ignored the way his voice sounded like fingernails on slate.

Wolfie barked, tilting his head. Hyrule hadn’t thought a wolf could look worried, especially not this much, but Wolfie sure looked concerned.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Wolfie barked again, this time as if to say, “Why were you sleeping in an alley, then?”

“I was lost and it was late.”

Wolfie whimpered, shoving his nose under Hyrule’s arm.

“No, really, I’m fine. I had a nice conversation with Dawn, and it helped me get something off my chest.” That was a lie. “So I’m all good now-” another lie- ”and there’s nothing to worry about.”

Wolfie huffed, pulled his head out from under Hyrule’s arm, then walked away. Hyrule didn’t bother following him.

After a few minutes, Twilight walked around the corner. “Hyrule! There you are!”

Hyrule smiled and leaned forward. “Did Wolfie get you?”

“Yeah, and we’ve been looking for you since yesterday! Have you been here all night?”

He nodded sheepishly, his smile disappearing.

“And you slept here? In an alleyway?”

He nodded again. “I got lost and it was late,” he said for the second time that morning.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He was getting deja vu.

Twilight looked at him for a moment, then sighed. “Well, come on. We should go back to the inn, the others are worried sick.” He paused, then smirked. “Especially Legend.”

Hyrule smiled. Was that some sort of joke? Was he supposed to laugh? He doubted Legend was actually worried about him. That guy didn’t seem to care about anyone. Especially not him.

Legend was everything he wasn’t. Brave, successful, loved, cunning, smart, good at his job, a  _ hero. _

“Hyrule? You good?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” He shook his head and stood up. “I’m fine. Just a little distracted.”

“If you say so...”

They walked to the inn in silence. When they stepped in, he saw that everyone was seated at a table together, talking and planning. He would’ve made a self-deprecating comment about how they were doing it without him, but he didn’t have time to do that before they spotted him.

“Hyrule!”

“Twilight! You found him!”

“Where was he?”

“Are you okay?”

Hyrule shrunk back a little at all the fuss, lost on how to respond to all this attention. He hid halfway behind Twilight, who began answering all the questions.

“He’s fine, I found him sitting in an alleyway, no, he’s not injured, he said he was there because he got lost, and I think he’d like it if you gave him some space.”

Hyrule nodded, now gripping Twilight’s tunic. Forget responding to the attention, he hated it too much to do anything. He was freaked out now, and he wished he could go back to sitting with Wolfie. 

Everyone stepped back, thankfully. Except Legend. Legend stayed standing there, not really saying anything. 

Finally, Hyrule spoke, stepping out from behind Twilight a little. “Um… sorry...”

Legend grunted, crossing his arms and looking away. “It’s fine.”

“I figured you all would be worried… I don’t like worrying people.”

Twilight smiled down at Hyrule after an awkward moment. “Are you good here? I’d like to go talk to Time.”

Hyrule nodded and let go of him, putting his hands behind his back.

A moment passed, then Legend hummed. “Did you really get lost?”

Hyrule nodded. “I’m not used to towns this big.”

Legend looked at him, smiling.. “Really? I’ve seen cities twice as big- no, three times as big as this.”

“Oh no.”

Legend laughed. “It’s not that bad when you have a map, or if you’re with other people.”

“That’s… good.”

They stood there awkwardly for a minute or so before Legend huffed and walked back to where everyone else was. Hyrule quickly followed.

Legend sat at the table most everyone else was at. Hyrule just stood there for a moment, unsure if he should join them or sit somewhere else. After a moment, he carefully sat next to Legend, moving as if doing anything wrong would upset everyone in the room. The conversation was joyful and lively. Hyrule made no contributions, even if he desperately wanted to, for fear of killing the conversation.

He was starting to get hungry, but he didn’t ask for anything. He had been used to the feeling of hunger his whole life. Why waste valuable resources just fix a problem that wasn’t even a problem in the first place?

Wild, who was sitting next to Hyrule, leaned over. “Hey, you look sad. Something bothering you?”

Hyrule shook his head. “No, I’m good.”

“Aw, c’mon, I want to help! What is it?”

He smiled, hoping it looked genuine. “Really, it’s nothing.”

Wild thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Alright. So I was wondering, do you wanna go exploring with me later? I saw an interesting forest earlier, and-”

“No.”

“-was wondering- wait, no? Why not?”

“Sorry for interrupting. But yes, I said no. It’s too dangerous over there. The forests are crawling with monsters, even now, after Ganon’s defeat.”

“Oh. I bet we could take them on, though. We’re tough and strong!”

_ You are, but I’m not, _ Hyrule thought to himself. Out loud, he said, “What if they’re infected?”

Wild frowned, thinking. “Good point. Still-” oh no- “I think if we brought stronger weapons and another person, we could handle it.”

“No, these guys are strong enough on their own. They’re kind of like your black and silver monsters. And there’s a lot of them. A  _ lot. _ ”

“Oh, alright. No checking out the forest. What should we do, then?”

As much as he wanted to say something along the lines of  _ what about stay right here and listen to everyone else, _ he didn’t. Because he was just nice like that. And he was also too nervous around other people to say something like that out loud, even if they were his friends who he had been travelling with for ages.

Instead, he settled for, “I’d rather just stay inside.”

That got a long, exaggerated groan from Wild. “Awww, why?”

Hyrule looked down at his lap, where his hands were resting on top of one another. “I just… don’t want to go outside right now.”

Wild pouted. “That’s not a good answer.”

…

Hyrule pressed his lips together.

“Is getting killed a better answer for you?”

Wild flinched at the harsh tone. “I- what?”

“This place will kill you. Anyway, I hate it.”

“Wh- huh? Why do you hate it? What do you hate?”

Hyrule closed his eyes and sighed. “Can you just leave, please?”

There was a pause. He didn’t bother looking up to see how Wild reacted.

“Alright. If that’s what you want.”

Wild patted his head and walked away.

Welp. His appetite was gone now, so he didn’t have to worry about wasting food.


	4. blood curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw blood, injuries, almost panic attack

He was bleeding. There was blood, and it was his. There was blood, and it was his, and it was all over his hands and his side. His hands were shaking, and they were covered in blood. His blood. Blood that was his.

This wasn’t good.

He pressed down on the wound harder. He had to fix this, heal this, do something. But, he had used all his magic on Thunder during the fight. So he was fucked.

What could he do? He didn’t know anything about healing outside of magic. He didn’t know how to make the blood stop.

Blood.

It was everywhere. There was too much, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of it all. His home was doomed.

Pfft. His home.

He didn’t like it much anyway. Who cared if Ganon got resurrected? He could just get himself killed, and he wouldn’t have to worry about it. 

“Hyrule? Are you alrigh- oh goddesses. That’s a lot of blood.”

He giggled. Yeah. It was. “Mhm.”

“Uh, you need a fairy, or something.”

“But I am a fairy.. I can fly…”

“Yeah, okay, that’s not good.”

“Once I fell into a fairy fountain, hehe.”

“Interesting. Hey, can someone help me over here? I think Hyrule’s lost his mind.”

Hehe… Wouldn’t that be funny, if he really did lose his mind… Death would probably be nicer, though.

\---

Hyrule woke up in a bed. How nice. He didn’t remember going to sleep.

Wait.

He shot up, and immediately wished he hadn’t. He winced, making a a sharp sound and catching the attention of someone nearby. This someone was Legend, who was sitting across the room in a chair.

“Oh, hey. You’re awake.” He paused, then added, “About time. I was, uh, getting worried. That was pretty impressive of you, to get me, of all people, worked up.”

Not wasting any time, Hyrule burst out, “I was bleeding.”

Legend tilted his head, looking confused. “Uh, yeah. You got hurt.”

“How much?”

“A… lot?”

“A lot as in…?”

Legend hesitated, then frowned and carefully began, “Listen, I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up about this, but you’re fine now-”

Hyrule pulled his legs up to his chest, rocking back and forth a little. “No, this isn’t fine, we’re all fucked and I just ruined everything, I ruined everything and I’m gonna have to do everything all over again and everyone’s gonna die and everyone’s gonna hate me and I’m not a real h-”

He broke off when Legend grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“Hyrule.”

He whimpered.

“Look at me.”

He looked up at Legend’s face. It was blurry.

“We’ll be fine. Okay? Nobody’s dying, and nobody hates you. Got it?”

“But-”

Legend pressed a finger to his lips. “Shush. I don’t know what this is about, but nothing has happened since you got hurt, so I’m sure it’s fine.”

Hyrule opened his mouth and closed it again several times before quietly saying, almost too quiet to hear, “But the curse...”

Legend tilted his head. “Curse?”

Hyrule nodded. “I… my blood can ressurect Ganon.”

Legend’s eyes widened, and he let go of Hyrule’s shoulders. After a moment of just staring, he said, “Holy _shit,_ Hyrule, that’s not at all what I was expecting.”

Hyrule looked down and laughed weakly, tears pricking his eyes. “Yeah… you probably hate me now… even more than you already do.”

“What? I don’t hate you! And I never have!”

He looked up, confused. “Really?”

“Yes, really! Are you stupid?”

”I mean-”

“That’s not what I meant. I...” Legend trailed off, making a face. Finally, his expression softened, and he whispered, “I care about you, Hyrule. We all do.”

“You… really?”

“Yes.” He paused again, face hardening once more. “And because we care about you, we need to know important things, like this fucking _blood curse_ you’ve been hiding from us.”

Hyrule nodded and looked down, swallowing back tears. He didn’t dare speak, for fear of crying in front of Legend.

It didn’t work.

“Hey, don’t cry. I’m not mad.”

Legend seemed to be choosing his words carefully, holding back his usual sass and sarcastic remarks. Hyrule was thankful for that.

“I just… I feel terrible… I’ve put you all in danger by keeping this a secret- no, by simply being here at all. I just _know_ I’m gonna- I’m gonna fuck up someday, and it’ll end up getting one of you hurt. Or killed.”

Legend was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, “Well, lucky for you, I’m sure the monsters in lands other than yours don’t know about the curse.”

Hyrule smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m being stupid.”

“Yep.”


	5. what kind of home is a cave?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cave boy cave boy cave boy cave boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Wild's pov in this one! Hope you like it!

Sometimes Hyrule thought about his family.

He remembered them vaguely. His mother had red hair, and his father had been a large, muscular man. That was it, though. They were probably dead by now, or something. Maybe they lived in a different country. In that case, he still wouldn’t be able to see them again. He’d definitely get lost on the way.

Very few of the others had surviving family. Four had his grandfather, Wind had his grandmother and sister, and that was about it. Most everyone, however, had something like a family. Time had his wife. Legend had Ravio. Sky and Twilight had an entire village. Wild had an entire _country_. And he had the biggest Hyrule! Warriors had… well, Hyrule wasn’t sure who or what he had, but that was mostly because he had mentioned so many people that Hyrule couldn’t remember them all. He fought alongside a lot of people. Hyrule couldn’t imagine, it must be wonderful.

But Hyrule?

Hyrule had nothing. Not even a house.

The closest thing he had to family were his Zeldas, and he barely ever stayed at the castle, or even really visited.

He did not, however, realize that his situation was out of the ordinary, even in a group of orphans. He had always assumed that everyone but Time just travelled alone all the time, just like him.

One day, while walking to Wild’s house, Wind asked, “So, Hyrule, where do you live?”

Hyrule tilted his head. “What?”

“Where do you live? Do you live with someone? Do you have a house?”

He said nothing for a minute, then slowly began, “A house? Why would I need a house when I have a perfectly good cave?”

“A cave?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Do you not have one?”

Wind laughed. “You’re funny!”

Funny? He wasn’t telling a joke. Why would he joke about something like that? A cave was much more practical than a house. For one, you could easily run out if needed instead of having to go through hallways and doors. Not that he had really been in a house with multiple hallways, but the castle counted, right? It was just an overgrown house.

Houses weren’t much more than complicated caves, and he liked not getting lost.

After a moment of thinking, Hyrule replied with, “Sometimes I hang out in the castle with the princesses. Usually I just wander around, though.”

Wind frowned. “Wandering around is fun, but I prefer sailing with Tetra or staying on Outset Island.”

“Isn’t sailing just the same thing as wandering, except you’re on a boat?”

Wind thought about it for a moment, then replied, “Well, not if you have a specific destination. And we usually have one of those.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

There was a comfortable silence after he said that, filled only with Legend and Warriors’ friendly banter behind them and Wild whispering to Twilight at the front of the group.

Finally, Wind spoke.

“You’re talking a lot more than usual.”

Suddenly very self-conscious, Hyrule simply nodded.

Wind looked up and smiled. “I didn’t say that to make you shut up, silly!”

“Yeah, I know,” Hyrule replied, then frowned. He was getting quiet again.

A beat.

“So, you said you live in a cave? Is that true? What’s it like?”

“It’s nice,” he began, incredibly aware of how he was starting to answer with short sentences again. “For a cave.”

“For a cave? What other caves have you been in?”

“A lot.”

Wind nodded as if Hyrule had said something insightful or at all interesting. “Cool. I’ve been in a few caves.”

Hyrule grunted in response, deciding against saying anything more out loud. What a thrilling conversation they were having.

A few hours later, they reached Hateno. Hyrule still found it strange to be in a village like this, with people walking around, living normal lives, not wanting to kill him. He also found Wild’s house strange.

There were weapons hanging on the wall, and, unlike all of Wild’s other weapons, they appeared to be well cared for. There was a table in the center of the room that always seemed to be set for a meal, as if Wild just had impromptu lunches throughout the day on a regular basis.

Hyrule grinned to himself, proud of that sentence. He was used to short, choppy comments, even in his head.

Wild also had a large picture hanging on the wall up in the loft. Hyrule had never gone up there before, though, so he didn’t know what the picture was of.

Today, he decided to check it out.

Hyrule climbed up the stairs, pausing at the top in case Wild was going to tell him to not go up there. He didn’t, so Hyrule continued over to the dresser, which the picture was hanging above. He examined the picture and saw that it seemed to be of Wild and his friends from before the Calamity. Huh.

Was that a goron? He was huge! Hyrule hoped he would never have to fight one of those guys. And that Zora girl was tiny! And Wild’s hair was so _short!_ He almost didn’t seem like the same person without those scars and that hair and that slightly unhinged look in his eyes.

Hyrule frowned, his thoughts drifting to the Calamity. It wasn’t fair, that Wild had to deal with all that.

…

It also wasn’t really fair that both he and Wild’s Hyrules went through an apocalypse, yet Wild’s Hyrule was faring much better than his own.

But that was a thought to deal with another time. Right now, Hyrule was more focused on the idea of having close friends like Wild used to have.

Hyrule was friends with the other Links, of course, but he didn’t really have any friends back home. Well, except for Dawn and Aurora. But they were all friends with their Zeldas, so they didn’t really count. Sorry.

He wracked his mind, trying to think of anyone in his own Hyrule that he was even remotely close to. The only thing that he really came up with was that one nixe moblin. Of course the only friend he could think of was a moblin of all things. A moblin! Not even a hylian!

Someone walked up beside him.

“Hey, Hyrule. You like my picture?”

Wild. Hyrule smiled and looked over at him. “Yeah. It looks nice.” He paused, then added, “Your friends look happy.”

Wild nodded, smiling softly. “Yep.”

After a moment, Hyrule blurted out, “How often do you stay here?”

Wild looked over, tilting his head. “What do you mean?”

“Like, do you prefer travelling or staying in your house?“

Wild thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I’m not here much, but that’s mostly because of Zelda. She likes to drag me out to the middle of nowhere to do research and stuff.”

Hyrule nodded. “So what’s your opinion on caves?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“How big it is, whether there’s ore or a shrine or some other sort of treasure inside.”

“Let’s say it’s decently sized, maybe the size of the downstairs part of this house, but there’s not really anything special about it.”

"Hmm… well, if there's nothing there, it's pretty useless, right? Unless it's raining and you have to wait it out."

"Would you ever live in a cave, if there was nowhere else to go?"

Wild looked confused, like he hadn't been expecting that. "I mean, maybe? If I really had to. It wouldn't be the best, but I could handle it. I've slept where I had just killed a hinox before." He wrinkled his nose. "That was the worst-smelling night ever."

Hyrule laughed. "Sounds fun."

\---

Wild snorted, thinking back to that conversation where Hyrule asked if he'd live in a cave.

How ironic, that just after they switched out of his own Hyrule, they'd be trekking through the mud and rain, desperate for some kind of shelter. So desperate, in fact, that Wild would be willing to climb into a little tiny hole, memories of the Shrine of Resurrection be damned.

At least Hyrule seemed to have a vague idea of where he was going. It was odd to have the guy that got lost constantly in the lead, but Wild was used to it. He went out exploring with Hyrule all the time.

After about one unbearable hour that felt like much longer, they reached a cliffside. Hyrule was visibly excited.

“C’mon, we’re almost there! I’ll give you all at least one thing to enjoy about this place.”

“Great,” Legend grumbled. “I want to get out of this goddess-damned rain.”

Wild couldn’t help but agree. He hated rain with a passion. It was inconvenient and made it ten times harder to climb anything. Bu hey, Hyrule seemed to be looking forward to showing them something, so that made it a little more bearable.

Not too long later, Hyrule stopped in front of a cave. He turned around, grinning. “Welcome to my cave! This is where I live!”

Nobody said anything for a moment. Finally, after an awkward silence, Wild shrugged and went inside. Everyone else followed after him, as if a gate that they were waiting at had been opened.

“Is this why you asked me what I thought about caves?”

Hyrule smiled and hurried after Wild. “Yeah. What do you think?”

“It’s… nice,” Legend answered. “For a cave.”

“For a cave...” Hyrule echoed. “Yeah, I agree. People don’t live in caves much, from what I’ve seen. I wonder why. They’re so nice! Way roomier than a house, and they don’t get all run-down. You can’t burn a cave, either!”

Wild laughed. “You’ve almost got me sold on that last one there. Once I get old, I’ll move to the Great Plateau and find a nice cave. I’ll settle down there, and commit all the arson I could ever dream of.”

“We can be cave buddies!” Hyrule exclaimed.

“Yeah!”

Meanwhile, everyone else was settling down for the night. They had dropped their things at the foot of a small stalagmite near the entrance and found places to sit and rest. Warriors had chosen to lean against a particularly tall and thin stalagmite, and Legend took the chance to tie his scarf around it. It was quite entertaining to watch Warriors try to catch Legend while attached to a large rock pillar.

Wild decided that caves were pretty fucking cool.

\---

Hyrule wondered if anyone really even liked his home. They sure didn’t like his Hyrule, but was that really his home anymore? Nope.

At least he still had his cave.

They _seemed_ to like it, but they were probably just happy to be out of the rain. They were always happy to get out of rain, even if it meant Legend had to sit in a boat. He shuddered, remembering how unbearably crabby Legend had gotten when it started raining in Wind’s Hyrule. It was still better than rain, though.

Hyrule probably would have liked the rain, if it wasn’t for the fact that it made it much more difficult to get away from monsters.

He looked around the cave, where everyone was sleeping. He had assured them all that they didn’t need a watch, since this cave was out of the way. Anyway, he hadn’t gotten killed in his sleep yet, so it couldn’t be very dangerous.

He thanked the gods that monsters were as stupid as they were and preffered to stay in their own territory.

Despite that, he couldn't sleep. It felt impossible. Not “I need to save the world” impossible, more like “I need to finish this dungeon but it’s too hard” impossible.

Instead, he got up and went to sit at the mouth of the cave, bringing his sword just in case. He stepped carefully, not wanting to wake anyone up. Once he got past everyone and to his destination, he plopped down in his usual spot. He liked to sit here and think, usually on nights like these when he couldn't sleep.

Everyone seemed to be sleeping alright, even on the cold, hard floor of the cave. Hyrule didn’t even find it uncomfortable, despite having used a bedroll ever since he joined the group. In fact, it was comforting. It was probably like finally sleeping in your own bed after a long trip, not that he would really know anything about that. He barely knew what it was like to feel happy to return home.

He never had a home, he decided. An entire kingdom didn’t count as a home, even if that was what he used to call it. This cave was the closest thing he had to a home, but it couldn’t be a home, either. It was just some random cave. Some stupid little cave that he had decided was safe enough to set up camp a year or so ago, then never cleaned up the camp. Caves weren’t homes, just like kingdoms weren’t. Homes had to be houses, and he didn’t have one of those. He probably never would.

What a scary thought.

Except… it wasn’t, really. He had never really wanted a house, not until now. Maybe he just wanted one so he didn’t feel so out of place. Maybe he just wanted to fit in, desperately grasping for anything that would make him more like the real heroes, the ones that actually had a kingdom they loved and _wanted_ to save for reasons that weren’t as selfish as his, and had houses and homes and people that they lived with and loved who could help them when they felt down but-

He didn’t have that. He didn’t have anything of that. There was no way he could relate to the others, because he was different. Different in a bad way, in a way that made him so much smaller than everyone else.

It wasn’t just the house thing. It was more, so much more. It was the blood curse, the wasteland of a kingdom, the fact that he just wasn’t _good enough_ to be a hero. He never helped anybody just to help them. No, he helped people so he could get things from them. He helped them so he could feel good about himself and feel like he was a hero when he really _wasn’t_. He was a coward, a stupid filthy homeless family-less non-hero coward that couldn’t fit in no matter how hard he tried--

“Hyrule?”

He was jerked out of his thoughts, realizing that his face was wet. When did he start crying?

“Are you alright? You were shaking.”

Legend sat down next to him, looking worried. Legend! Worried about him! Watching him cry!

“N-no- I mean, yeah, of course,” Hyrule replied shakily. “I’m doing great.”

“Really?” Legend leaned forward to try and get a better look at Hyrule’s face. Hyrule looked away. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

“I just… had a bad dream. Yeah.”

Legend didn’t respond, only looking at him with an unreadable expression. Finally, after what felt like forever, he sighed. “Yeah, alright.”

Hyrule let out a silent sigh of relief, glad that it was over.

“I can tell there’s something more bothering you.”

Ah. He spoke too soon.

“Legend, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, I doubt that. You can talk to me, you know. Like, get your feelings out instead of bottling them up.”

Hyrule laughed dryly. “You’re one to talk.”

“I know.”

There was a long pause. It wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable, either.

Should he tell Legend? He didn’t want anyone to worry about him. Although, Legend already knew about the blood curse, so how much could some simple worries do?

 _A lot,_ a little voice in the back of his mind said, but he shook his head and opened his mouth to speak.

“I just, I feel like I don’t-”

Legend stood up, pulling an ice rod out of seemingly nowhere.

“Wha-?”

“Monsters.”

“Oh.”

Hyrule grabbed his sword, secretly thanking the goddesses that he didn’t have to dump all his self-doubt onto Legend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasnt super happy with this one but i do like the end lol. Thats like my favorite kind of angst to write, the kind where its mostly just a character thinking
> 
> Also is this longer than the others or is my brain just saying it is to justify the stupid amount of time i spent on this


	6. dream come true

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyrule cries a lot, with a tiny little bit of Legend angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hdjdjsjjs my upload "schedule" is not consistent at all

Hyrule knew things about Legend that none of the others did. If anyone else, say, Warriors, knew that Hyrule knew these things, they’d probably suggest using it for blackmail.

That was a wonderful idea, but Hyrule would never blackmail his idol. Anyway, nothing Hyrule knew was really blackmail material. Except for the children’s tale about costumes or something, but he doubted that one was actually true.

He knew things like how Legend saved not only Hyrule, but two other kingdoms as well. He knew about the dream world- that must have been wonderful- and the opposite to Hyrule known as Lorule. He knew that Legend had a friend named Ravio who aided him on one of his quests.

Hyrule had always looked up to this ancient hero. And now, now he was traveling with him! This was practically a dream come true- haha, dream- but…

It meant his idol knew him. His idol knew how stupid and clumsy and bad he was at hero-ing, which happened to be his worst nightmare.

Goddesses, he needed to stop with the dream jokes. They weren’t funny.

Anyway!

The person he had looked up to his whole life, longer than he could even remember, knew too much about him. More than anyone else except Dawn and maybe Aurora.

Legend had seen him mess up in battle, he had seen him when he was injured, he had seen him when he was a little out of it. Thank the goddesses Legend hadn’t seen him _actually_ cry yet. Dawn said he was an ugly crier. Although, maybe she had said that because they were best friends. Friends teased each other right? That was a friend thing. He didn’t have much experience with having friends.

Hyrule wondered how many friends Legend had. It must have been a lot! A hero that awesome and cool had to have a lot of people that admired him. Hyrule wished he were that popular and well-known. Then again, he liked being just another guy.

Still… it couldn’t hurt to dream.

\---

Hyrule shot up out of his bedroll, eyes shut tight. He wanted to open them, he really did, but he was afraid of what he might see. Monsters, maybe, or worse, a Hylian standing over him, knife in hand, ready to cut him open to steal his blood and maybe his life too, and the fact that they were Hylian made it all the more terrifying because they had _chosen_ to do this.

He choked out a sob, eyes still screwed shut. He brought his knees closer to his body, eyes still shut tight. He hugged his legs, eyes still shut tight. Tears began leaking from his eyes, dripping down his cheeks, dripping like blood, like blood cursed to bring back Ganon. Tears of blood, terrible horrible sticky warm blood. Blood that could mean either life or death, winning or losing.

He knew it was stupid, being afraid of some random Hylian, but at this point, that fear was just built into him. He was so used to being scared constantly that fear was normal. Fear was normal, and very, very justified.

He took a deep, shaky breath, still not opening his eyes. The tears falling down his face did not cease, but they did slow. He rubbed his legs, still holding them close. He took another breath, this one a little steadier. Then another, and another, until he stopped crying.

Good. He hated crying. It left him weak, and being weak meant death was more likely, and death meant his blood was easy to take, and blood meant Ganon would be brought back. Crying meant losing, and losing was bad. He couldn’t afford to lose.

He couldn’t help but think, what if he did lose? What if he was attacked while he was crying like that, eyes shut tight for fear of what he might see, and got killed? What would the princesses think? What would the people of Hyrule, who relied on him for their safety, what would they think? They’d hate him. They’d hate him, because he was weak and died and now they were all going to die too.

And his tears came back, full force.

He rubbed his face as hard as he could, mentally begging his eyes to stop fucking crying. Stop crying, because someone- Legend- might wake up and see him crying and think he was weak and they’d be right and that’d be worse than dying, he thought. Being alive to hear people call you weak and stupid and not worthy, voicing all your fears so you have to listen to someone confirm everything you’re afraid of. And here he was, surrounded by heroes that were better than him in every way and probably all thought bad things about him but were just too nice to say those things out loud, and maybe it was just him but that made it hurt more because they felt bad for him, and he hated it when people felt bad for him because they could be out taking care of themselves but no, here they were worrying about him.

He choked back a sob, trying as hard as he could to hold it in, but it just made his body shake and he ended up just crying louder and that defeated the whole purpose, kind of, because he was trying to be quiet but he couldn’t, it felt impossible. Why was everything so hard? Why could he not do anything right? He couldn’t even cry quietly. You’d think he’d know how to do that, having a life like his, but no, he was just bad at everything.

He laughed, tears still dripping down his face. Imagine! A hero, bad at everything. An incapable hero. So unlike the hero before him, who was a literal legend, who saved Hyrule countless times, who travelled to other kingdoms and saved those too.

And this one couldn’t even fucking _cry quietly_. How fucking _pitiful_.

He wiped off his face with his sleeve, still not opening his eyes. At this point, it was almost comical. He couldn’t even remember the nightmare that woke him anymore, and he was still terrified.

He sighed, letting go of his legs and letting them fall flat on the ground. He was still crying, but he didn’t really even care anymore. If nobody had woken up yet, they wouldn’t be waking up any time soon. And if the person on watch hadn’t said anything yet, they had probably just decided not to bother him. Speaking of which, who was on watch?

Legend’s voice rang out from the quiet. “Hyrule?”

Hyrule’s eyes flew open for the first time that night. Oh. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no oh no it was _Legend_? Legend was on watch and he had seen Hyrule _cry_ his fucking _heart out_ for at _least_ ten minutes? And he only just now decided to let Hyrule know he was there?

“Are you alright? I mean, obviously not, but are you better now?”

“I- uh- yeah,” Hyrule stuttered, his voice somehow so quiet it was barely audible, even in the silence of the night.

“Do you, uh, want to talk about it? Goddesses, I’m bad at this shit.”

“Mm, no. I, uh, I’m good, I think.”

“Alright.”

He felt someone sit down next to him.He jumped a little when he noticed it, but quickly calmed down, realizing it was just Legend.

After a while, Legend spoke again.

“Was it a nightmare?”

Hyrule nodded. “Mhm.”

“Ah. I hate those fuckers.”

He looked over at Legend, eyes wide. “You get nightmares?”

“Uh, yeah. Why would I not? We’re all heroes, we’ve all got trauma, and our brains all think it’s a great idea to use that to fuck with us in the middle of the night.”

“I… kinda just assumed you didn’t, I guess.”

Legend tilted his head. “Why not?”

Hyrule hesitated, then said, “All the stories paint you as this perfect guy.”

Legend laughed. “Pfft, I’m far from perfect. I’m an asshole, you know that, and I hoard so much shit I can’t even find anything in my own house.”

Hyrule smiled, looking down. “Yeah, I guess you shouldn’t believe all the stories.”

“Yep. You’ll probably be disappointed.”

Hyrule sighed. He couldn’t imagine how disappointed a future hero might be, if they ever met him. That is, if the stories about him were even positive enough for that to be possible.

In response to the sigh, Legend awkwardly wrapped an arm around Hyrule and began humming. It was a nice tune, that reminded him of the ocean, but in a nice way. Like the beaches in Wild and Wind’s Hyrules. It reminded him of wind and chances he didn’t have anymore, choices he could have made but didn’t. It was sad, but comforting.

“So,” Legend began softly once he finished humming the song, “what are the stories about?”

Hyrule smiled. “Well, my favorite is the one about the dream world-”

“Dream world, huh? That one was… nice.”

Hyrule looked over at Legend. He had a sad smile on his face, like he was remembering something he didn’t have anymore. “Yeah. I bet. They say the hero- I guess that would be you- was shipwrecked on an island and met the girl of his dreams. Together, they saved the island and woke the Wind Fish, then the two went home together and lived happily ever after, or whatever those fairy tale endings are.”

“Heh. Not quite.”

Hyrule tilted his head. “Not quite?”

“I knew they’d get something wrong. It didn’t end so ‘happily ever after.’ Waking the bastard fish just made the island disappear. In the end, I did nothing but fall for someone that never existed.”

“Oh.”

Legend chuckled. “Yeah. ‘Oh’ is right.” He paused, then looked at Hyrule. “So, tell me the other stories and I’ll tell you how badly they fucked them up.”

“Gladly. I’d love to hear how… uh… ‘fucked up’ my favorite stories are.”

“Great! Now tell me one!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao the crying bit is 756 words long
> 
> Also isn't the title just evil >:3


	7. the worlds too big and im too small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tw: mentions of death. Lots of em

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is from Montreal by Penelope Scott :D

Wild’s Hyrule was huge and beautiful and very,  _ very _ explorable. AKA, easy to get lost in. Hyrule wanted to wander off the path so badly, but Legend always pulled him back. Sometimes he didn’t mean to, but it was just so easy to get distracted. Anyway, you couldn’t blame him for wanting to get a closer look at that strange yellow thing with the little buzzing bugs flying all around it.

However, even Hyrule got bored after walking for such a long time. He didn’t get tired, though. Not like the others. He was used to running for days on end. Luckily, not long after he started wondering when they’d get to their destination, they came across a very interesting place.

It seemed like there had been a village here, once upon a time. Now, however, all that were the foundations of buildings, half destroyed stone walls, collapsed tables and bookshelves, smashed pots, worn-through rugs. It was miserable and depressing, and yet…

Hyrule couldn’t help but notice the tall grass growing in the old ruined buildings, the moss and vines creeping up the broken walls, the flowers poking out from between cracked planks of wood. Butterflies flew around the rusty weapons sticking up out of the ground, crickets chirped in the background, frogs hopped through the puddles in the path. 

Farore was reclaiming what was hers. Slowly, so slowly you could barely tell until it was too late to do anything.

Hyrule swallowed thickly, realizing how terribly  _ different _ this was from his own home, despite both Hyrules being post-apocalyptic. Maybe it was the 100 years that did it, but no, his land had been slowly deteriorating for much longer than that, hadn’t it? It had been dying for a while now. And Wild’s, Wild’s home had been flourishing despite the circumstances. So many people had died, and the remaining were left without a ruler, yet they did well. So much better than the people of his time were able to.

Maybe it was the times, or the way things happened. Whatever it was… Hyrule wished it was different.

“Hyrule?”

“Hm?” He turned around, realizing he had wandered off trail and stopped at the doorway of a half-standing building.

Legend walked over. “You alright? You looked like you were thinking pretty hard.”

“Uh, yeah! Yeah. I’m fine. Just… looking around.”

Legend didn’t say anything for a moment, then shrugged and turned away. “Okay. Just don’t fall too far behind.”

Hyrule nodded, not moving from his spot in front of what seemed like it was once a house.

After a minute, he turned back to the building and stepped inside. It couldn’t hurt to explore a little. 

He wondered who used to live here. Was it someone Wild knew before all the hero stuff happened? Maybe a family member. And Wild wouldn’t even remember. That would be sad, wouldn’t it?

Maybe it was someone cool and friendly, who knew lots of people. Maybe it was someone mean that didn’t like other people. Maybe it was someone like somebody in this group. Maybe it was a family. He hoped it wasn’t a family. That would also be sad.

Hyrule walked around a little, examining the various items. There was a table with a snapped leg, a broken bookshelf in the corner, a faded rug. He went over to the bookshelf first, curious to see if you could still read the books. Not that he’d be able to read it, since it wasn’t his hylian, and also he couldn’t read in general. He chose a random book and opened it to a random page. He could make out the words, so it could probably be read. Cool! Maybe Wild’s Zelda would like reading these. He remembered WIld saying she wanted to collect as much history as possible.

Maybe if Hyrule talked to her, he’d be able to figure out what went wrong in his Hyrule for things to turn out so differently.

He wandered into a different room, where he saw three beds, one larger than the others. As he walked toward them, his foot hit something. He looked down and saw… a doll? He honestly couldn’t tell, since it was all muddy and beat up. He bent down and picked it up to see it closer. Yup. Definitely a doll. It had little button eyes- or, a button eye. It looked like one of them had fallen off at some point. It had a sewn on smiley face. So far it was a lot like the ones he had in his Hyrule, except this one didn’t really look like him.

Its hair was too muddy to tell what color it was, but it looked blonde, maybe? It also had a blue-ish dress. The fabric was also dirty, and faded, so it was a little hard to tell, but it was easier than the hair. Hyrule wondered if it had been a bright, striking blue once upon a time.

He smiled, wondering what the kid who this had belonged to had been like.

He pocketed the doll and continued over to the beds. There was a quilt on one of them that was falling apart, along with a pillow that looked like it had a name sewn onto it. There was another pillow just like it on the bed next to it. Again, like the doll, the colors were so faded he could barely tell what they were.

Hyrule frowned, realizing that this house probably  _ did _ belong to a family. A family who died. He wondered if there were any families that had died in his Hyrule, then quickly shook his head to get rid of the thought. He was exploring! Exploring was supposed to be fun, not sad!

Still. He didn’t like seeing a house- no, a  _ home- _ like this, all dilapidated and broken. 

It made him almost happy that he didn’t have a house himself, because if he did and he died, surely it would get destroyed and someone would stumble upon it later and wonder what happened to the poor soul that lived here. And little would they know, it was the so-called hero that died because he wasn’t good enough and-

He shook his head, harder this time. This was no place to get sad. Everyone else was probably really far ahead by now, and he didn’t want to get lost here, in a ruined town where he’d probably just keep getting sadder the longer he stayed. That would be bad because if he was sad he’d get distracted, and being distracted meant it was easier to get ambushed. 

Although… this was Wild’s Hyrule. The monsters here tended to stick to one spot instead of going after any innocent traveller they saw, so he would probably be fine. Still, it couldn’t hurt to be cautious. Yeah. No use ignoring instinct if it could help him.

Hyrule quickly left the house, nearly tripping over rotting wood planks several times. He never would have been brave enough to explore ruins in his own ho- Hyrule. His Hyrule. What kind of home has broken houses that hide monsters?

He sighed, not even bothering with shaking his head this time. He hurried down the stone path, wondering how many people had used it back when there was a town here. That wondering led him to realize that this ruined village was bigger than most of the towns in his Hyrule, and wasn’t that sad? All his Hyrule could support was a couple small groups of houses, barely big enough to call it even a village.

He stopped, frowning. He had been walking for a good two minutes, and he hadn’t seen the others. Had he gone the wrong way? Shit, he had said he wouldn’t get lost, he had said it would be hard to get lost with only the one road, and here he was, lost. This was great. Now he was sad  _ and _ he had no clue where he was.

He turned around and began to retrace his steps, looking straight ahead instead of looking around like he had been earlier. Exploring here wasn’t fun anymore, not since he realized there used to be a family living here. They were probably dead now. He couldn’t bear to imagine how many families had been lost in his own Hyrule purely because of the conditions of the world.

He sighed. Goddesses, was this place just making everything he thought extra depressing? That was kind of rude, he decided. 

“Stop being mean, ruins. I just wanted to explore a little,” he mumbled, not really caring that he was talking to a bunch of old buildings. He talked to random things all the time. It was a good way to keep himself from going crazy when he was constantly alone.

Hyrule stopped at a crossroads he didn’t recognize. Or maybe he just forgot it? But he didn’t remember being here… Then again, he hadn't really been paying attention while they were walking together.   
He slumped his shoulders in defeat, deciding to sit down instead of getting even more lost. The others would surely realize he had been gone a while and come back to find him, right? Right. He chose a clean patch of grass and sat down, leaning against a pile of bricks. It wasn’t the most comfortable spot, but he had dealt with worse.

While he waited, he decided to take a good look at the surrounding area. There was a huge pole in front of him, with a ripped up flag flying from the top. There was a large box and some broken barrels at the base of the pole. There was a ruined wagon nearby, and of course, a ton of broken-down buildings. And some trees. They were nice trees, probably good for climbing. If he needed to, he could probably hide in one of them-

“Hyrule!”

He shot up from his resting spot, looking in the direction the shout came from.

“Oh, there you are!” Wind came running, closely followed by Wild and Legend. 

Hyrule grinned at the sight of them. “Hi! I was starting to think you’d never come find me.”

Legend did not smile. Instead, he frowned and crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you come back to us? I told you not to fall behind.”

Hyrule laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah… sorry about that… I lost track of time, and when I realized I should go find you guys, I got a little lost and decided to stop so I didn’t get more lost.”

Legend looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. “Good idea, I guess. It wasn’t that hard to find you.”

Hyrule grinned, happy that Legend said that an idea of his was good, and also pretending he hadn’t just stolen a dead child’s doll. Did it even count as stealing at this point? 

He followed the small group as they led him back to the others. Everyone seemed happy to see him. They had probably been worried, though he had gotten lost enough that they really shouldn’t be anymore. 

Once they got going again, Hyrule bounced over to Wild. “I found something interesting in those ruins.”

Wild grinned. “Oh? I’m always up for some good treasure.”

Wind perked up at the mention of treasure, despite being on the other side of the group. The boy quickly ran up to the two of them. “Treasure? What treasure?”

Hyrule chuckled and pulled the doll out of his bag. “This doll. It looks kinda like the ones I’ve found in my Hyrule, except it’s not me.”

Wild leaned forward a little to examine the doll closer. “Hm… Can I hold it?”

“Uh, sure. Here,” Hyrule replied, handing it over. Wild took it and held it up.

After a moment of awkward staring all around, Wild stopped walking. His hands fell to his sides, and he had a far-off look in his eyes.

Hyrule waved his hand in Wild’s face, concerned. “Uh, Wild?”

Wind stood there for a moment, looking very confused, before saying, “I’m gonna go get Twilight,” and running off.

“Yeah, good idea,“ Hyrule said to no-one, since Wind was no longer there and Wild wasn’t responding to anything.

By now, several of the others had gathered near Wild and Hyrule, looking worried. There was a lot of being worried today. Wind hurried over, dragging Twilight along. Twilight stopped in front of Wild and nodded. “He’ll be fine. He’s just remembering something.”

Legend frowned. “So about how long is he going to be holding us up?”

Twilight glared at him before saying, “Uh, around an hour. Y’all can go ahead, I’ll stay here with Wild.”

Time stepped forward. “Alright then, let’s go. We’ll see you later, Pup. I trust you’ll be able to find us easily?”

Twilight grinned. “Yup! Y’all smell so bad I can tell where ya are from a mile away.”

Time chuckled. “Wonderful.”

Legend joined up with Hyrule, saying, “Time laughed like that was the funniest joke ever and not just some half-assed teasing comment.” Despite sounding annoyed, he had a smile on his face, which made Hyrule smile. “Anyway,” Legend continued, “I saw that you were showing something to Wild. What was it?”

“A doll I found while exploring.”

“Really? What did it look like?”

“Uh, kind of like the ones I found on my adventures, except it was a girl in a dress and not me.”

“Wait, you found dolls of yourself? Like, just lying around?”

Hyrule tilted his head. “Yeah? What about it?”

“That's kind of weird. I wonder who made them.”

“Yeah...”

\---

Later, when Wild and Twilight came back, Hyrule asked what he remembered.

“Oh, just something about my sister. She used to have a doll like it.” Wild paused, then said, “Actually, can I keep this?”

“Sure. It’s not really mine, anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally came up with titles for all the chapters so I'll be changing them now


	8. gone a little overboard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tw almost drowning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is super short, sorry!

They had recently landed in Wind’s world, meaning there was water everywhere. Hyrule wasn’t a huge fan of that, but Legend was even less of a fan, judging by how as soon as they boarded Tetra’s ship, he went down inside of the ship. Tetra said she wouldn’t make him help, since he had clearly had some sea-related trauma and she wasn’t going to force him to do things he would fuck up because of it. Hyrule decided she was just as secretly soft as Legend.

Hyrule enjoyed learning how the ship worked, since he had only ever used a raft. Wild also said he had only used a raft before, but he kept insisting that rafts were more efficient than a giant ship because they were faster when you “really got it going.” Tetra said that the ship was moving a lot faster than he thought it was.

Hyrule decided that he didn’t like ships anymore when they got caught in a storm and the ship began rocking a _lot_. Tetra made someone go down and check on Legend before starting to scream orders at everyone. Hyrule didn’t know what a lot of the stuff she was saying meant, but he tried his best. Wind helped a lot, since he was running around and explaining things to the Links.

Though Hyrule liked the ship and all, he was not enjoying himself. Water was washing up onto the deck, getting his boots wet. Every time water touched his feet, he flinched and hopped away on instinct. He was too used to the poison water of his own Hyrule.

A larger wave swept across the wood, threatening to knock him over. He grabbed onto the rail before he fell, then didn’t let go. He had caught a glimpse of the dark water beneath and did not like the idea of falling over. Maybe Legend had the right idea, hiding down inside the ship. Surely the others would understand if he went down there? Yeah, they’d understand. Hopefully.

He shouted a quick “I’m gonna check on Legend!” and began to slowly make his way over to the door, knowing they probably didn’t hear his soft voice over the sounds of crashing water and wind. The boat rocked, making him unsteady on his feet. He stayed upright though and kept walking.

Right before he reached the door, the boat leaned so far to the side he thought it would tip over, and he slipped on the wet floor and next thing he knew he was freezing cold and soaking wet. It took him way too long to realize that oh, he had fallen overboard. He began sinking lower and lower until instinct kicked in and he began flailing. It didn’t work, though, and he kept sinking. The water quickly enveloped his head and he screamed but only bubbles came out of his mouth and he swallowed salty water and flailed even more and oh goddesses he was going to die. He was going to drown.

He was going to…

going to drown…

At least it was harder to find a body when it was at the bottom of the ocean… maybe this was the best way to go…

He accepted his fate, because really, who would go after him in the middle of a storm? They needed all hands on deck… And he… he didn’t really know much about ships. All he had was a raft… rafts were pretty cool, he thought…

He heard muffled shouting, a splash.

And then he was pulled up out of the water-

He was alive!? And not dead?

He coughed and spit out water, barely registering anything. After what felt like ages but also only seconds, he was wrapped up in a blanket with a person beside him.

“How are you feeling?” the person asked. Their voice sounded so close, yet so, so distant. Like they were talking loudly through a wall, and his ear was pressed up against the wall.

He absently nodded, eyes half closed. Was it even a yes or no question? He forgot.

“Not good, then.”

He grunted. What wasn’t good, exactly? He thought about it for a moment, then gave up and leaned into the person. They hesitated for a moment, then wrapped an arm around him. He smiled and made a content sound, closing his eyes.

\---

Hyrule opened his eyes and realized he was in a bed. He hadn’t been in one of those in a while. He laid there for a moment before pushing himself up into a sitting position. He looked around a bit and determined that there was no-one else in the room. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked out of the room into a hall.

It seemed they weren’t in the boat anymore. They had probably reached land and gotten some rooms in an inn while he was asleep. When did he even fall asleep? It couldn’t have been during that storm. Who falls asleep on a boat in the middle of a storm?

He smiled to himself as he reached the end of the hall. He stepped into the cafe area and saw the rest of the Links seated at a table. He hurried over and found the last empty seat, which happened to be next to Legend.

“Hyrule! You’re up!”

He nodded and grinned.

Wild leaned forward from across the table. “How are you feeling?”

“Uh, good?”

“That’s good,” Time said.

Hyrule tilted his head. “Why? Did something happen?”

Legend nodded, looking in a different direction. “You got knocked off the ship.”

“Oh. Yeah, I kinda remember now. I was cold.”

Wind chuckled. “Yeah, the ocean is like that.”

Warriors smiled and elbowed Legend from where he sat on his opposite side. “Legend came out from down wherever he was and jumped down there to grab you. How heroic.”

Legend sighed. “It’s not heroic if you’re being selfish.”

Hyrule was too busy being amazed that Legend had saved him to really think much about that statement. It was pretty cool to have your hero save you from drowning.

He was also too distracted to notice the guilty glance Legend gave him after saying that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miscommunications are coming soon >:D
> 
> I love the line "its not heroic if youre being selfish" a little too much. im a genius, i know


	9. everything i do is wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please dont kill me
> 
>   
> Title for this one is from Moonsickness by Penelope Scott!! (Again djsjsj)

Hyrule knew Legend was upset. And he knew it had something to do with him. And he knew that whatever it was, it made Legend want to avoid him. He didn’t know why, though.

Had he done something wrong? Had he done something to upset Legend? Or did he remind Legend of something horrible, so horrible that he couldn’t even bear to look at him? He didn’t know which one was worse.

He didn’t know if it was worse to have the person you look up to hate you for something you did, or to have them think of you as a monster. He didn’t know if it was worse to have them think of you as a failure, or for them to think that you’ve fucked up so badly that you aren’t even worthy of being human anymore. He didn’t know if it would be worse to have them keep their thoughts to themselves, or scream and yell at you for being so horrible at everything that you’re practically on the same level as Ganon but maybe even worse because you’re both monsters but Ganon isn’t a human, Ganon is just an overgrown pig and you’re a person, a person who could’ve done better if they had just tried harder.

He didn’t know if it was worse for the person you looked up to more than anything to think of you as a lost cause, or just a horrible person.

Maybe Legend was upset because he didn’t think Hyrule was worth saving. Maybe Legend thought it was stupid that a hero didn’t know how to swim. Maybe Legend just didn’t like him.

He thought back to what Legend had said after Hyrule woke up. “It’s not heroic if you’re being selfish.”

He hadn’t thought much about it at first, but now…

What did Legend mean by that? What was selfish about saving someone? What was selfish about saving Hyrule in particular? How was it worth saving someone who was pretty much just some stupid kid with a sword? Especially for someone like Legend?

Hyrule didn’t understand. Not that that was out of the ordinary, not anymore.

\---

Legend couldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to sleep, though, so it worked out. He hadn’t slept well since Hyrule almost fucking drowned. He almost let one of his favorite people drown. How ironic.

He sighed and sat up. He glanced over to Sky, who was on watch, before standing up and sitting next to him.

“I’ll take over watch for you.”

“Oh, thanks,” Sky said, yawning. He made his way to his bedroll and conked out almost immediately.

Now Legend was alone. Sweet.

He leaned back onto the log behind him (why Wild always insisted on chopping down a tree just to have something to lean on, Legend didn’t know. It was nice that it was there, though) and sighed loudly.

A long while passed as Legend wallowed in his thoughts. Four mumbled in his sleep at times, and Wild kept moving around, but it was otherwise calm and quiet.

Legend kept finding himself watching Hyrule. He looked so peaceful, sleeping there. Legend envied the kid. Imagine not being mentally fucked by a dream. A dream!

Hyrule groaned softly and pulled his blanket up closer to his ears. He muttered something under his breath, then quieted again. Not too much time passed before the kid sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked over at Legend, thought for a moment, then crawled over, dragging his blanket behind him. He curled up next to Legend and wrapped the blanket around himself with a sigh.

Legend said nothing, though he was a bit surprised by this development. He certainly wasn’t upset, though. He wrapped his arm around Hyrule’s shoulders, smiling softly.

After about ten minutes, Hyrule looked up and quietly asked, “Do you hate me?”

Legend just stared at Hyrule, confused. After a moment, he stuttered, “O-of course not, why would you think that?”

Hyrule turned his gaze back down. “You just… seem to be avoiding me.”

“I...”

“Yeah, I figured. You probably wish you never saved me, huh? And I-” Hyrule brought a hand up to his face, rubbing his eyes. “-I understand. I wouldn’t want to save me, either. It seems like it would kind of be a waste, heheh.”

“Hyrule, no-”

“And you probably wish I never even joined you all. I’m no hero. You’re all- you’re so much better than me, in every way. I’m just some kid with a pretty sword and some magic tricks. I just- I just hold you all back, just by being here.”

“Hyrule, listen-”

“And I- and I-” Hyrule choked out a sob, his entire body shaking. “I just, I try so hard to make you like me and think I’m good, but I’m not good, and you don’t like me, and- and- and none of you like my Hyrule and it used to be my home, and I used to love it so, so much but now I just hate it, and I can’t bear it when we’re there because all of you hate it and you hate me, and I just want to make you happy but I can’t, I j- I just _can’t_ ,” the kid cried, face red and cheeks wet with tears.

Legend hated this. He hated watching Hyrule cry, he hated hearing all this, and most of all, he hated that Hyrule thought he hated him.

“Hyrule.” Legend grabbed Hyrule’s chin, turning the kid’s head towards him. “Look at me. I don’t hate you.”

“Y-you don’t?”

Legend couldn’t bear to hear the disbelief in Hyrule’s voice, but he ignored it. “No, I don’t. You’re one of the best people I’ve ever met. I think you’re amazing, and that you’ve always done the best that you can with what you have. I know plenty of people that would have given up a long time ago if they were in your shoes.” He paused, then added, with all the feeling he could muster, “I can’t believe I have to say this, but you’re _good_ , kid. You’re a good person.”

“I… thank you, Legend.”

He nodded and pulled Hyrule into a hug before the kid could see him crying. He hoped to all the goddesses that Hyrule would never forget what he told him. Even if it was selfish.

\---

Hyrule listened.

He almost believed Legend was right.


	10. they hate me, they hate me not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another really short one, whoops. The next one should be longer lol, ive actually got an idea of what im gonna do with it lol

Hyrule looked tired, and Legend was worried. He had told himself he wouldn't get attached to any of the other heroes, but here he was, worried about one of them because they _looked_ tired.

Whatever. He could deal with that later. Right now, he had to make sure Hyrule was alright. Especially after last night.

Legend confronted Hyrule while they were walking to the nearest town. Hyrule was sticking to the back of the group. Perfect.

"Hey, kid."

"Hi."

Legend frowned. Goddesses, he even _sounded_ exhausted. “You doing alright? Last night was pretty rough.”

Hyrule nodded stiffly. “Yeah.”

“Really? Tell me the truth. I want to help.”

“Yes,” he said again, almost a little too quickly.

Legend stopped walking and put a hand on Hyrule’s shoulder. “Listen. I can tell something’s wrong. There’s no use lying about it, so just tell me.”

Hyrule shrugged his hand away, but didn’t start walking. He looked down at the ground and pressed his lips together.

After a minute, he mumbled, “This isn’t something you can fix, Legend.”

Then, he continued on.

\---

_He doesn’t hate me, he doesn’t hate me, he doesn’t hate me,_ he repeated in his head, over and over and over again. Legend didn’t hate him. There was no way he could have been lying when he said that. Nobody would have said all that about him, all those good things, and be **lying**. Nobody would do that to anybody.

So, Hyrule knew Legend didn’t hate him.

Now, everyone else was a different story. None of them had told him they didn’t hate him. Not even once. Legend had said it at least twice. To be fair, they didn’t know what he thought. Who would just go up to someone and say “I don’t hate you?”

Still. He had yet to recieve strong praise from anyone but Legend, and maybe Wild. Wild didn’t count, though. He was nice to practically everybody.

Hyrule had drilled Legend’s words into his brain, trying to force himself to believe them.

_“You’re one of the best people I’ve ever met. You’re amazing. You’re a good person.”_

He wanted to believe those words, he really did, but it was just so hard. He could never meet his own expectations, he was never good enough, he was always just almost okay. He supposed it was part of growing up alone in a world as unforgiving as his own. He had to be his best all the time, and it was a lot easier to do that when you convinced yourself there was always room for improvement. And sometimes, you convinced yourself so well, that you could never see yourself as anything close to adequate again.

So, Legend’s words must be true. He just wouldn’t let himself believe. There was always something telling him he was all the opposites of what Legend said- the worst person Legend had ever met, horrible, a bad person. He could have done much better than he did, if only he had used his resources better. Most people wouldn’t have almost given up as much as him. They would have kept on going where he couldn’t. They would have done better, so much better. The goddesses had made a horrible decision, choosing him to be the hero.

After all, he was just some kid with a sword. A sword he didn’t even know how to use correctly.

If the real heroes knew that, if they knew how pitiful he was, they’d surely hate him. They’d kick him out of the group, making him go back to his horrible excuse for a house in his horrible excuse for a Hyrule. Fitting, for a horrible excuse for a hero.

He hated the idea of having to leave.

Then it hit him- he was so scared of leaving because this was his family. The only family he only really knew, and if his family hated him and made him leave that would hurt so, so much. Just the thought of it made his heart hurt.

He blinked, glad that he was in the back of the group. They wouldn’t mind if he stopped, just for a moment, right? Yeah.

He drifted off the side and found a tree stump to sit on where he could still see the path. He didn’t really want to get lost right now.

He leaned forward, arms resting on his legs. He rubbed his face a little, hoping he didn’t cry. He didn’t want to cry. He didn’t want to think about getting left behind. He didn’t want to think about kicked out of his family. He didn’t want to think about those things. He didn’t want to think.

He wished he could tear his head apart. He wished he could not have thoughts for a day, if only to let himself rest. He wished someone would come and hug him. He wished nobody would bother him. He wished someone would tell him it’s okay, it’s fine. He wished nobody would talk to him.

He wished… he wished his brain would stop trying to tell him he wasn’t good enough. He wished he could just think of himself kindly.

“Hyrule?” A soft voice- Legend- spoke. He didn’t even know Legend could talk like that.

He simply sniffled in response.

“Something’s wrong. I can tell.”

He shrugged weakly. “Mm.”

Legend chuckled. ”You’re not giving me much to work with here.”

Hyrule looked up at Legend, who was crouching in front of him and gave a faint smile. “I’m just being mean to myself. That’s all.”

Legend looked at him with a strange expression, not saying anything. Finally, he smiled. “Yeah. I get that. Try not to get too mean. Don’t hurt yourself.”

Legend stood up and began walking back to the group. Hyrule laughed to himself before following.

Yeah. He’d try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor kid :)
> 
> Dw uh. Nobody gets too badly hurt


	11. "i thought i lost you"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw for mentions of death. Nobody dies tho  
> Also blood, injuries, and passing out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii! this chapter took me way too long to write, but its long, so i guess that makes up for it haha. hopefully the next chapter comes out sooner lol  
> also the ending is really weak but i kinda just wanted to finish it so thats what ur getting SLSFLJSDJFH

Legend noticed that he had been worried a lot lately. Always about Hyrule, too. Worried about if the kid was upset, feeling okay, if something was bothering him.

Right now, he was just concerned about the kid’s safety.

Hyrule was missing. Sure, that wasn’t too out of the ordinary, but nobody could find him and the kid wasn’t in a good mindset right now and Legend would hate it if the one person he was the most attached to here died-

No. Hyrule was fine. He was fine, and nothing bad had happened. This was just like all those other times he had gotten so lost it felt impossible to find him.

He just had to keep searching. If he didn’t then Hyrule might actually die, and he’d never forgive himself. 

Just like with Marin.

\---

Hyrule stumbled through dense brush, branches catching on his clothes and tearing them and scraping against his skin. Maybe they drew blood. He wasn’t paying much attention to that. He was too focused on finding Legend, finding the others.

He could yell, but that could attract monsters. He could run, but that would just hurt him more. He could stop and sit down, take a rest and maybe cry a little, but that wouldn’t get him any closer to finding Legend. He could just give up and let something kill him, but that would mean blood, and blood was bad. 

They probably weren’t even looking for him anymore. They had probably given up, all hope lost. They probably thought he was dead. After all, it had been an entire day. He had wandered off that morning, and it was starting to get dark now.

Come to think of it, they probably didn’t even care. Legend might, but he wouldn’t show it.

Maybe he should just lay down and accept that he was never going to find his way back in this unfamiliar Hyrule. Maybe he should get some rest. That sounded nice.

Hyrule stopped and looked around for a moment before heading over to a tree. He climbed up it and found a good spot, where he curled up. He’d just close his eyes for a bit…

\---

He didn’t sleep for long before getting woken up by something hitting his face. Hard. He looked around for the attacker and saw a bokoblin at the bottom of his tree, holding a rock. It threw the rock, and it met its mark, nearly knocking him out of the tree.

“Ah! Hey!”

He rubbed his face where the rock had hit, then jumped out of the tree, pointing his sword down. He landed right on top of the bokoblin, killing it. Good. Not infected. 

However… the two moblins in front of him probably were.

\---

Legend rolled up his bed roll, quietly grumbling to himself. He didn’t want to pack up camp just yet, because what if Hyrule found his way back after they left? What if he stumbled into the remains of camp, injured and in need of help, but there was no-one there? What if-

“Hurry up, Legend, we need to get going.”

He pressed his lips together in a tight line and sighed. “Yeah, alright.”

He shoved all of his things into his bag and stood up. Time smiled at him, eyes filled with pity. Legend gave a half-hearted glare. He didn't need anyone's pity. 

After a bit of talking, they set out. They were headed toward the nearest town, to see if anyone there had seen Hyrule. They probably hadn’t, but it couldn’t hurt to check. 

On the way there, Warriors made several attempts to start some friendly banter by poking fun at Legend, but Legend ignored him. They needed to find Hyrule, so why waste energy on stupid things like that?

After a while, Warriors left him alone to talk to Wind. Took him long enough to get the hint.

Not too long later, they came across a monster camp. An abandoned monster camp. 

“Monsters don’t usually just up and leave their camps,” Wild commented, examining a club. “Especially not like this.”

Twilight nodded. “It looks like there was a fight here.”

Legend frowned, looking down at a puddle of blood. “It looks like these monsters were infected.”

Wind gasped, running over. “D’ya think Hyrule was the one that fought them?” Then, quieter he asked, “Do you think he’s okay?”

Almost a little too quickly, Legend replied, “Yes. Of course. He can fend for himself, I’m sure he’s doing just fine.”

After a moment of silence, Warriors said, “Well, it doesn’t look like there were too many monsters. This camp isn’t very big.”

“Yeah,” Wild agreed, picking up monster parts and putting them in his slate. “There were probably only like, four bokoblins.” He paused, holding a strange, pulsing object. “Or moblins.”

“Moblins?”

He nodded. “Moblins. These are moblin guts.”

Legend grimaced. “I’m going to ignore the fact that you can tell moblin guts apart from bokoblin guts and focus on the fact that Hyrule might’ve had to fight infected moblins  _ by himself. _ ”

“I mean, he won. Clearly.”

Legend didn’t nod, or make any comments. He simply looked around, feeling as if there was something he hadn’t noticed but was sitting right there.

And then, he saw it- a splash of red blood. Hylian blood. Hyrule’s blood.

There wasn’t much, but it was enough to make Legend internally panic. He thought back to Hyrule telling him about that blood curse, thanking the goddesses that this wasn’t Hyrule’s Hyrule. 

A split second passed, and in that time Legend realized that Hyrule hadn’t cleaned it up. He  _ hadn’t cleaned up his blood. _ That alone was enough to multiply Legend’s concern by a lot. What could possibly prevent Hyrule from cleaning up his blood?

“Legend? Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, it’s just...” He pointed to the blood. “If Hyrule was the one to fight these monsters, why is his blood still here? He always cleans that up, or at least covers it.”

“Maybe it wasn’t Hyrule, then?” Wind asked hopefully.

“Who else would fight several moblins instead of running away?”

Silence.

“I hope he’s okay...”

\---

They didn’t spend too much longer at that monster camp, quickly deciding to just hurry and get to the town. It was unlikely that Hyrule would go back to a monster camp he cleared, anyway. Once there, they began asking around to see if anyone had seen Hyrule. 

Everyone came back empty-handed. 

So, they settled down at an inn for the night, hoping to continue their search tomorrow and actually get something out of it.

Despite finally being in a bed, Legend couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t shake the notion that Hyrule was out there, somewhere, horribly injured and just wanting to find them. Not Legend specifically, even though the kid seemed drawn to him. 

He wished the kid had chosen someone else to open up to. He was never good at emotions, and couldn’t possibly give the kid what he needed.

He wished he hadn’t gotten so attached to the kid. If he hadn’t, if he had just stayed far away from the kid, he wouldn’t be so stressed and worried right now. He’d be sleeping peacefully, not thinking about and wishing about all these things. If he hadn’t, the kid would probably be fine right now, because it seemed that every time he got close to someone they died. And, he didn’t want someone as sweet as Hyrule to die because of someone as horrible as him.

Legend shut his eyes tight in a feeble attempt to block out his thoughts and just  _ sleep, _ but it didn’t work. Of course. The one time he actually wanted to sleep he couldn’t. 

After several minutes of not falling asleep, he threw his blankets to the side and sat up. Maybe he just needed some fresh air, or something. Maybe it was just the bed messing him up.

He walked out of the inn, making sure to step lightly so as to not wake anyone up. Once he reached the door, he let out a sigh and walked down the street, toward the edge of town. Once there, he found a tree and sat down next to it. Maybe Hyrule would find the town and see him there, or something. Not that it would really help that much.

Whatever. Thinking was hard when you were tired.

\---

Legend woke up to cold dew on his face and damp clothes. More importantly, though, Hyrule was still nowhere to be seen. With a frown and a groan, he wiped the drops of water off his face and stood up. 

He could already tell today wasn’t going to be great, if the way it started was anything to go by.

He made his way back to the inn, trying to ignore how fucking freezing he was. When he got there, everyone else was up and sitting in the lobby. 

“Hey, Vet, did you decide to go out on an early morning trip?” Warriors asked with a smirk.

Legend simply sat down and glared at him. Warriors decided to be smart for once and backed off. 

“Okay,” Time began after a moment, “now that everyone’s here, let’s start figuring out a plan for today. We still need to find Hyrule, though we’ve had no success so far. Any suggestions?”

Twilight leaned forward. “Maybe we could split up to spread out a little more. It might be easier to find him then.”

Time nodded, and Legend opened his mouth to speak. He was quickly interrupted by Time, though. “Legend, you stay here.”

“Wh- no! I’m not sitting here on my ass while Hyrule is out there, probably injured-”

“Legend-”

“He’s probably exhausted, too-”

“Legend!”

“And- what?”

Time sighed. “Listen, we’ve all been having a rough couple of days, but you’ve been affected the worst by all this. I can tell. So, I’m asking you to just take a break for bit, alright? And if you feel like you’re being useless, imagine if Hyrule found his way to the town, but none of us were here.”

Legend pressed his lips together, sitting back in his seat. “I… Alright. Fine.”

Time smiled. “Alright.”

They continued deciding on who would go where and with who. Once they finished, everyone left, and Legend was all alone in the inn. He sat there for a moment before deciding that he should find something to do so he wouldn’t be bored out of his mind the entire time. Maybe he could explore the town and look at the shops, since he hadn’t gotten a chance to do that yesterday.

\---

Hyrule crawled through a bush and past a monster camp. He didn’t want the monsters to see him, because he didn’t want to fight like this, while he was hurt and tired and hungry. He had done it before, plenty of times, but it had been so long and he doubted his skills. He was doing so badly in conditions that were better than what he usually had to deal with. Funny what a little bit of pampering could do.

He just wished he could get back to the others. He wished he had never wandered off from the group, and he wished he didn’t get lost so often, and his wished he hadn’t grown soft while travelling with the heroes, and he wished he could just take a break.

But, people like him never got breaks, did they? Heroes… he wasn’t exactly a hero, though. No hero got themself into a situation like this, where they were crawling along on the ground past a group of monsters just because they didn’t want to- no, didn’t know if they  _ could _ fight them. 

He looked up to check on the monsters, and in the split second he wasn’t looking down at the ground he leaned forward too much and snapped a twig beneath his hand. All the monsters snapped their gazes to him.

Shit.

Abandoning all attempts at being sneaky, he stood up and bolted. His left foot got caught under a root and he stumbled forward, but he kept going, ignoring how much his ankle hurt, ignoring the fact that he had probably just twisted his ankle and really should be running, but knowing that if he did stop to fight, he’d probably get even more hurt and he really couldn’t afford that right now.

Once he was far away, so far that he didn’t recognize anything from his wandering, he gave into his exhaustion and pain and collapsed. He hit the ground with an oof, tears slipping from his eyes and down his face. Goddesses, that really hurt. Usually it wouldn’t make him cry, but he supposed his pain tolerance had gone down since joining the heroes. Not to say he wasn’t glad he wasn’t getting hurt as often- it was just annoying that this happened.

Grunting, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He gently pulled his left foot closer to examine it. It was swollen and purple. Not good. Definitely not good. How was he going to deal with that? He already used all his magic earlier, so he couldn’t heal himself, and he was all out of potions.

He needed… uh… ice? That would work, right? But how would he get ice? He was pretty sure he didn’t have any ice weapons like Wild or Legend. 

Hm. Well, he couldn’t just stay here forever, waiting for his ankle to heal. There could be monsters around, and anyways, he wanted to get back to the others.

No- he needed to. 

He hated feeling alone.

\---

Legend supposed it was selfish to be bored in a place like this while Hyrule was lost in a forest. The town was bustling, filled with people walking around and shopping. And here he was, wandering around, bag of rupees in hand, while Hyrule was probably hurt and in pain and wishing he could just get back and Legend wasn’t searching, he wasn’t helping anyone here, he was just doing nothing and wasting his money when he could be  _ helping Hyrule- _

“Move it, kid.”

He looked up with a start and saw a man standing in front of him. “Er, uh, sorry.”

“Eh, it’s alright. Something’s obviously bothering you. Just don’t sto in the middle of the road next time.”

Legend nodded as the man walked off. He smiled to himself, but it wasn’t a happy smile. More of a, “I’m a terrible person, huh?” smile. 

Hopefully the others would come back with Hyrule in tow. Legend didn’t know if he could handle losing yet another person.

\---

They didn’t. There was no news. No sign of Hyrule anywhere. Nothing.  _ Nothing. _ That was possibly worse than bad news, because it let Legend’s imagination run wild. Was he hurt? Was he dead? Dying? Was he sick? How far away was he? Was he close, or far? Was there any chance of finding him? 

That was a scary thought. What if they never found him? What if he died, and they never even found the body? Forever stuck, not knowing if Hyrule was out there somewhere or not. Or maybe he survived, trapped in a world that wasn’t his, forever searching for his friends, though they had long since given up their search.

Needless to say, Legend didn’t sleep that night. 

The next morning, They gathered around in the lobby of the hotel once more.

“I think we should leave the town and continue our search elsewhere,” Time began. “We haven’t found anything in this area.”

“Why? It’s not like we’ll ever find him.”

All eyes turned to Legend, surprised. Ever since Hyrule had been gone for more than two days, Legend had been the one most adamant about finding him. Why would he suddenly be against it?

“Legend?”

“He’s probably dead or something, at this point. ‘Specially since he liked me the most.”

“What’s that supposed to mean-”

“And if he’s not already dead, he’s gonna die, because the goddesses hate me. We’re either never going to find him, or we’ll find him and he’ll be dead.”

A moment passed, and nobody said anything. Finally, Wild shakily started, “But what if- what if he’s not?”

Legend looked up at him with a cynical smile. “Pfft. As if Hylia would be that kind to me.” He frowned, and his eyes dropped back down to his face. He sighed. “I’m being selfish, aren’t I? I-I’ll leave.”

And with that, Legend stood up and walked back to the room.

Nobody followed.

\---

The day passed by incredibly slowly, yet it sped by faster than a horse at a derby. Legend spent the better part of the day staring down at his feet, only looking up if someone addressed him directly. When they set up camp in the afternoon, he barely helped, but nobody pushed him to. He just sat against a log, poking the dirt with a stick. He appeared to be drawing a fish, though it didn't look very good.

Finally, once the fire was started and Wild had begun cooking, everyone settled down. Friendly banter began, along with some unsuccessful attempts to get Legend to join in. After a while, they gave up with that. Instead, Wind began telling a story, making sure to add lots of embellishments and exaggerations. 

“And then- and then-!”

Several of them leaned forward, excited for the next part even though they had heard the story a thousand times. 

“I jumped up and-” Wind broke off, looking to the side and scrunching up his face.

“Aw, c’mon,” Four said, sounding uncharacteristically childish compared to his usual demeanor. “Why’d you stop?”

“I thought I heard something...”

Sure enough, right after he said that, there was a rustling sound nearby. Everyone- except Legend, who was too busy drawing a flower on the ground- stiffened, prepared to jump up and fight.

There was another rustle, and there was a movement in the shadows, and-

-and Hyrule stumbled into camp.

The camp exploded, everyone asking Hyrule things like, “Are you okay?” and “What happened to you?” and “Were you the one that killed those moblins?” and “Do you need a potion?” Hyrule didn’t answer any of the questions, simply pushing everyone out of the way and limping over to Legend. Legend shot up, staring at the injured boy in front of him with wide eyes.

“I- I thought… I thought I lost you...”

A moment passed, and no-one said anything. The air was still, nobody daring to breath.

Finally, Warriors broke the silence.

“Getting soft, Vet?”

Legend froze. After a too long, too tense moment, he slowly turned to face Warriors, hands in fists by his side, and strolled up to him.

“What, you’ve never been scared to death that you might’ve accidentally killed someone important to you? You’ve never gotten someone you loved murdered, and felt so guilty about it that even the thought of them, or the thought of their favorite song, or flower, or place nearly makes you break down? So guilty that you’re unable to leave your house, or even find the will to do basic tasks? Because I doubt it, Mr Captain of an army. I strongly doubt it. I don’t- I- I-”

Legend stopped, realizing what he was doing. “I… I need to go.”

He turned on his heel and rushed out of camp, pushing everyone away. Even Hyrule.

And Hyrule, Hyrule tried to go after him but stopped in his tracks halfway through camp, swaying on his feet. He shook his head, took another step, then crumpled to the ground with a groan.

\---

Legend leaned against a tree and slid down to the ground, rubbing furiously at his eyes. He couldn’t cry right now, he was supposed to be happy because Hyrule was back, Hyrule was alive and okay, albeit injured, but he was  _ alive _ and  _ here _ and that was what was important. He shouldn’t have lashed out at Warriors just because of a stupid comment but it  _ hurt, _ it hurt and he didn’t know why. Maybe it was because he had been so worried about Hyrule, never giving up the search until today, and when Hyrule came back he was so happy and grateful and ecstatic that he couldn’t hide his feelings behind snarky comments like he usually did and Warriors  _ knew _ that, he knew that Legend was just happy that Hyrule was back but he still felt the need to make a stupid teasing comment about it. Then Legend got defensive and angry and accidentally spilled out  _ more _ feelings and now everyone knew that he killed someone he loved and they were gonna think he was murderer which was true but now they all  _ knew _ -

“Legend?”

He sniffled and looked up. Warriors stood in front of him, looking anxious. He narrowed his eyes. “What.”

“I, uh… wanted to say sorry. I shouldn’t’ve said that. I know you were just happy that Hyrule came back. We all are. I just… I just wanted to make a joke, to lighten the mood.” Warriors paused, playing with his scarf. “Goddesses, it sounds like I’m just trying to make excuses.”

Legend chuckled, looking down. “It does.”

Warriors smiled. “Yeah. I, uh, I guess what I’m trying to say is… I’m sorry. Forgive me?”

Legend thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. It’s fine. I just got defensive is all. And… I should probably apologize, too. I… haven’t had the best experiences with loss in the past, and I got so worried that Hyrule had died, that… I… I don’t know. It just… hurts, y’know?”

Warriors nodded. “Yeah. There was a kid I met during the war. He was a little shit, but… he was still amazing. Once the war ended, he just. Disappeared. I spent ages searching for him, but I never found him. I knew he was from a different era, but I still couldn’t help but feel something bad happened to him, and that it was my fault.” He paused, then grinned. “I found him recently, though. You’ll never guess who he was.”

Legend looked back up and tilted his head. “Who?”

“The old man. The kid that was like my little brother is older than me now.”

Legend laughed. “Funny how life works.”

“Yeah.”

Neither of them spoke for a while. The silence was quite comfortable, so they didn’t feel the need to fill it. At one point, Warriors sat down next to Legend, and Legend subconsciously leaned into him. Warriors didn’t point it out, scared that Legend would move away. 

After at least five minutes, Warriors looked down at Legend. “Tell me about the person you mentioned earlier? When you were telling me off? You, uh, don’t have to, of course-”

Legend smiled. “No, no, it’s fine. I think… someone else should get to hear about it. If only so she doesn’t get forgotten.” He took a deep breath, then began.

“I had been visiting another kingdom- either Holodrum or Labrynna, I don’t remember which was last- and decided to sail back home. I ran into a lightning storm, and I got struck by lightning. It ruined my boat and knocked me out. I woke up in someone’s bed, on an island. Turned out a girl had found me. She was… beautiful. Red hair, tanned skin, freckles, amazing singing voice. She was perfect. Dare I even say-” he chuckled dryly- “she was my dream girl. Quite ironic, once you know the whole story. We fell in love. It was the best time of my life. But, the number of monsters on the island had increased, and the only way to do anything about it was to wake the Wind Fish. The Wind Fish was a giant whale god that was sleeping in a huge egg on top of the island. So, like the hero I always have to be, I began preparing to wake it. At one point...” Legend trailed off, looking down and swallowing as if remembering something he didn’t want to. “At one point I discovered that the island was just a dream, and waking the Wind Fish would destroy it. But, I was selfish and wanted to go back home, so I decided to go on with it. I thought… that maybe M- the girl would be allowed to come with me. I was wrong. A-and now she’s gone. She’s gone, and it’s my fault.”

Legend’s shoulders shook, tears building in his eyes and threatening to fall.

“I-I killed her, and everyone on the island.”

“No.”

Legend looked up at Warriors, eyes wide. “Wh- what?”

“No. You’re acting like you did the wrong thing. You didn’t. If you had just done nothing, the number of monsters probably would have grown, and nobody would have been able to handle it. You did the right thing by waking that fish. And you didn’t kill anyone. You saved them. Even if they did die, it was surely much more peaceful than death by monsters would have been. And it wasn’t your fault, either. You did nothing wrong, only what you were told to do. And I think that was exactly the right thing to do.”

“I… thank you. I needed that.”

Warriors smiled. “No problem, Vet.” he paused, then started taking his scarf off.

Legend tilted his head questioningly. “What are you doing?”

“Scarfing you. Don’t bother arguing.”

Legend laughed, letting Warriors wrap his scarf around him. “Don’t worry, I won’t. For once, I don’t feel like it.”

“Good.”

Once Warriors finished, he put an arm around Legend’s shoulders. Legend leaned into his side more, closing his eyes and sighing contentedly.

A good while later, during which Legend fell asleep for a moment, he stretched a little. “So, how’s Hyrule?”

“Oh, he passed out after you left.”

He sat up straight and stared at Warriors incredulously. “Wh- why the fuck didn’t you tell me!?”

“I’m sorry! You were upset and probably would’ve yelled at me- ow!” Warriors clutched his cheek where Legend had just slapped it, smiling.

“Well, I’m yelling at you now!”

“Goddess-damn you, Vet, we were having a nice time.“

Legend grinned. “Yeah, fuck you too. Let’s go, I wanna see how Hyrule’s doing.”

\---

Legend got a couple odd looks once they got back to camp, probably because he was still wrapped in Warriors’ scarf. He didn’t care, though. It was soft and grounding.

He crouched next to Hyrule, who was asleep on his bedroll.

Warriors winced. “Ouch. That ankle doesn’t look too good.”

Legend nodded. “I think he twisted it. Might be sprained.” He paused. “Can someone hand me my bag?”

“Sure!” Wind tossed him his bag, and Legend caught it. He searched through it for a moment before pulling out an ice rod and getting to work.

Once he finished, he pulled his own bedroll next to Hyrule’s and fell asleep, using Warriors’ scarf as a blanket for both him and Hyrule.

\---

Hyrule blinked his eyes open, then immediately closed them. Had the sun always been that bright? He rolled over, pulling his blanket up over his face- wait, blanket? He had a blanket?

…

Oh right! He had finally found his way back to the others!

He opened his eyes again and sat up with a smile. He went to stand up, but immediately regretted it when pain shot up his left leg. He sucked in a sharp breath, gritting his teeth. He didn’t remember twisted ankles hurting this badly. 

“Hyrule?”

He looked over at Legend, who was sitting with several of the others. Warriors was there, but he didn’t have his scarf. Where…? 

Oh. Oh! He was using Warriors’ scarf as a blanket. Huh.

“Uh… good morning?”

Legend smiled. “How’s your ankle feeling?”

“Not good.”

Legend grunted and stood up to walk over. “Here, let me see.”

He crouched next to Hyrule, and Hyrule moved Warriors scarf off of himself. Legend moved his ankle around a bit, which hurt a lot, but he didn’t do it for very long. Once finished, he grabbed an ice rod and froze a bottle of water- since when did he have that?- to put on his ankle. 

“Here, lean this against your ankle. That should help.”

Hyrule smiled up at Legend. “Thanks.”

He expected Legend to go back and sit with everyone else, but he didn’t. He just frowned at Hyrule for a moment before quietly asking,

“You… doing alright? You, uh… haven’t been doing too great lately. And then you were all alone for a few days, and...”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. What about you? I remember you were, er, a little upset yesterday.”

Legend looked surprised, apparently not having expected that question. “I’m… okay. I talked to Warriors, and I feel a lot better about some… stuff now.”

“That’s good.”

Hyrule paused, looking down at the ground. Then he sighed and said, “A lot has been going on recently. First I pour out all my worries on you, and you have to comfort me, and then it happens again, and then I get lost. I just, I feel like I’m putting too much stress on you.”

“Pfft. I’ve been on so many adventures that I’ve started to lose count. It’s hard to stress me out that much.”

A moment passed, then Hyrule smiled again. “I’m glad I have you guys. You’re more of a home than anything I’ve ever had.”


	12. nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title: get some sleep, tall child!!
> 
> this one is super short, but! its setting up the next chapter so look forward to that! unfortunately that might take a bit, school is hard  
> also this chapter was purely so i could mess around with that weird style i used to do in one of my fics on wattpad kdfhsfkhj. its really fun lol

he opened his eyes

he saw endless gray-blue

he was… floating

floating... what a strange feeling

feeling.

he didn’t… feel anything

was this a dream? were dreams usually like this?

no, he didn’t think so

he closed his eyes

and . . . floated

he opened his eyes

he didn’t know how long it had been, but was that important?

he saw black

he saw specks of white, like stars

like he was floating in space…

imagine that!

he sighed,

closing his eyes

once more

when he opened them

again

  
  


he saw  **red**

**red,** like his second-favorite tunic

**red,** like the eyes of his shadow

**red,** like blood

**red**

**RED**

  
  
  


he

screamed

why?

…

… 

he saw a giant shadow

approaching him

getting closer

  
  


Ganon.

  
  


he tried to move

but he

couldn’t

tried to breathe

but he

couldn’t

tried to do something,

anything, 

but he

couldn’t

he tried to cry

and he

could

\---

Legend awoke with a start. He wasn’t sure why, though. What could have woken him? 

He sat up and looked around, quickly finding the problem. Hyrule was crying in his sleep, and awfully loudly, too. Clearly a nightmare, but he wasn’t moving at all. Odd. Usually people, like, tossed and turned. 

He frowned and crawled over to Hyrule. He put a hand on the kid’s side to shake him, but paused. 

Hyrule wasn’t breathing.

Legend recoiled slightly, then leaned forward and pushed Hyrule so he was lying flat on his back.

“Hyrule?”

No response.

“Hyrule.”

…

“Hyrule, please wake up.”

Barely a second later, he shot up, shaking and gasping for breath. He turned his head to look at Legend, then practically launched himself at him and buried his face in the vet’s shoulder. Legend was surprised at first, but he quickly wrapped his arms around Hyrule.

“Nightmare?”

Hyrule nodded into his shoulder. “Mhm.”

Legend sighed and rubbed Hyrule’s back. “Wanna tell me about it? Talking… helps.”

Hyrule didn’t answer for a moment, instead pulling away and adjusting himself to curl up next to Legend. Once he was settled, he said, ”I was floating in a void. It was… nice, I guess, but weird. And then… all I saw was red, and then-” he hiccuped, pausing to take a breath- “and then I saw Ganon standing over me, like he was about to kill me, and- and I got so- so scared. I just wish that, I didn’t have so many nightmares. I wish I could get at least one good night of sleep, if I even sleep at all...”

Legend frowned. “How often do you sleep?”

“Not, not much. Why?”

“Just… wondering. Why not?”

“Sleeping is dangerous, back at h- my Hyrule. Too many monsters out for my blood.”

“Ah. I used to not sleep. It was for a different reason, though. I, uh, didn’t want to dream.”

“Understandable, have a nice day.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

Hyrule giggled, leaning into Legend even more than he already was. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Legend smiled, looking down at the kid. He looked so tired, so exhausted. Like he hadn’t slept in ages.

Legend furrowed his brow. Had he slept recently?

“You say you don’t sleep much. When was the last time you slept?”

“Uh...” Hyrule trailed off for a moment, blinking his eyes sleepily. “Uh, last night. Last time I slept well was… uhm… I don’t… know? Not since before I got lost, I don’t think.”

“Hm,” Legend said simply. That couldn’t be good. “You should sleep. Don’t want you passing out in the middle of a battle.”

“I try to… And anyway, I’m used to not sleeping for a while… Like I said, I don’t sleep much.”

“That’s… not good for you. You could get sick, or something.”

“That… explains a lot. Whatever. I can deal with that.”

Legend pressed his lips together in a tight smile. ‘That explained a lot?’ What? That could  _ not _ be good. He’d have to keep an eye on Hyrule.


	13. sleep well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi yes its been a while. sorry for the hiatus lol, i was having trouble with this chapter and then i had exams, and yeah. i havent been writing much recently djsfhkfd  
> anyway, enjoy! and go to sleep at a reasonable time. im lookin at you, klesek /lh

Hyrule sat at the fire, staring down at the food in his lap. He couldn’t bring himself to take a bite, though he was sure it was delicious. Wild’s cooking was always delicious. 

He just… felt off. That was all. It happened sometimes. It wasn’t anything to worry about, usually.

After a few minutes of picking at his food, he felt Legend’s gaze on him. He looked up at him with a smile and asked, “Do you want the rest of this? I’m probably not gonna finish it.”

“Nah, I’m good. I was wondering, is everything alright? You’ve seemed a bit down all day.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine.” Hyrule grinned, trying to be reassuring. Off days were nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe they sometimes made it harder to fight and stay safe, but it was all part of being a hero. Probably. Not that he’d know.

Legend took his plate, and Hyrule stood up. “I am tired, though, so I think I’ll go to bed early.”

“Alright, then. Good night. And sleep for real. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you pulling all-nighters.”

\---

Legend watched Hyrule sit down in his bedroll and pull his blanket over his head. The kid had been acting odd all day, and Legend was more than a little concerned. Usually Hyrule didn’t lag behind the group so much, and instead was at the front, checking out every little thing with Wild. Usually he ate as much food as he could and stored the rest away, just in case. Usually he went to sleep as late as possible. 

Legend decided not to worry too much about it. Hyrule could take care of himself.

\---

Legend had third watch tonight, and he wasn’t exactly having the best time. He had been spooked by an owl, and nearly murdered by a rogue stalkoblin from Wild’s Hyrule. Both in the past, like, ten minutes. 

Someone sneezed, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

“Golden goddesses,” he swore after calming himself down. Someone had to be awake, because he was pretty sure you couldn’t sneeze while asleep. He’d have to fact-check that later. “Who the fuck is awake at this hour?”

He heard a groan and a sniffle, then a soft answer from Hyrule. “I am.”   
“Oh, it’s you. I was scared it’d be Warriors, or something.”

Hyrule giggled. “Well, now you’re stuck with me. I probably won’t be going back to sleep any time soon.”

Legend smiled. “In that case, why don’t you come sit next to me?”

Hyrule crawled over with his blanket and curled up next to Legend. He offered the end of his blanket to Legend, who gladly took it. It was freezing out here.

They didn’t say anything, instead enjoying the comfortable silence. Sometimes Hyrule cleared his throat or coughed, but that was about it.

After about half an hour or so, Legend looked at Hyrule, head tilted. “You feeling alright? You’ve been coughing a lot.”

“Yeah, I’m just-” Hyrule cleared his throat- “I’m fine. Just a little… meh, I guess.”

“Hm.”

“Really! I’m perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, yeah, I believe you. Mostly.”

Hyrule rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, prompting a chuckle from Legend.

After some time, Hyrule’s eyes slipped close and he fell back asleep. Legend made no move to carry him back to his bedroll, content with just sitting here. When he finally did move the kid, it was just about dawn.

One by one, everyone else began to wake up. Hyrule was the last to get up, aside from Sky. Legend didn’t think much of it. After all, the kid had woken up in the middle of the night.

When Hyrule finally woke up, he barely ate any breakfast. Odd. That was two meals in a row.

Legend confronted Hyrule just before they left. “Are you sure you’re fine? You’ve practically skipped a meal twice in a row, and you never do that.”

Hyrule nodded. “Yeah, I-” he cleared his throat- “I’m alright. Just a little more… tired than usual.”

“Really? Are you sure you’re not sick, or something?”

He chuckled weakly. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Even if I was, as long as I’m not stuck in bed I’m just fine.”

Legend pressed his lips together, thinking, then nodded. “Alright. But, tell me if you want to stop.”

Hyrule nodded again, giving him a barely-reassuring smile. Legend watched him go to walk with Wild, then headed over to where Twilight was standing.

He tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Hey, wolf-boy.”

Twilight turned around, clearly not amused by the nickname. “Yeah?”

“I think Hyrule is sick. Make sure we don’t go too fast.”

Twilight smirked. “Going soft?”

“I- no! I just don’t want that idiot to hold us up.”

“Yeah, okay. But, I will make sure to do that. And, I’ll try to keep Wild from dragging him off to Hylia-knows-where.”

“Thanks.”

Twilight nodded, and Legend went off to grab his things before they left.

\---

About halfway through the day, Legend felt someone shake his shoulder. He groaned, turning to look at the offender. “What- oh. Hey, Hyrule.”

The kid looked absolutely exhausted and just generally uncomfortable. “Hi.”

“Ya need something?”

“Yeah. I… I feel like I’m about to pass out… I’m really tired… I wanna… I wanna stop.”

Legend nodded and groaned loudly. “Ugh, when’s the next town? I’m bored as shit.”

He quickly got an answer from Time. “About an hour from here. Not too far.”

Legend frowned, then jogged up to Twilight. “Twi.”

“Mhm?”

“We gotta stop. Look at Hyrule.”

Twilight tilted his head slightly before looking back at Hyrule. His eyes widened, and he immediately went over to Time.

Soon, Time stopped walking and called the group to a halt. “Okay, we’re going to stop here for the night.”

Wind scrunched up his face. “I thought you said we were an hour away from town? Why are we stopping here?”

Time simply pointed at Hyrule, who had plopped down at the base of a tree and was now dozing off.

“Oh. Yeah, he looks tired.”

Legend chuckled, grabbing a blanket out of one of the bags on Epona and tossing it over Hyrule. He helped set up camp, then went to sit next to Hyrule. Right now, he didn’t care if anyone thought he was “soft.” He just wanted to make sure the kid was alright. He had half mind to wake Hyrule up and ask him some questions, but he didn’t. He’d rather just let the poor kid sleep. 

\---

When Hyrule woke up, his head was so stuffy he could barely think. After a moment, he realized that it was still dark, and he and Legend were wrapped up in a blanket together. He didn’t remember going to sleep…

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He tried to take a deep breath, but quickly realized that his nose was too stopped up to do so. Fun. Now painfully aware of that fact, he resorted to breathing through his mouth.

Also, he was cold. Like, freezing cold. He sat on his knees and carefully lifted up the corner of the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, making sure he didn’t disturb Legend. Luckily, it seemed he had been given most of the blanket.

Once finished, he looked around. He… didn’t remember setting up camp here. In fact, he didn’t remember a good portion of the previous day. Just setting out, walking for a bit, then talking to Legend about something. He did know, however, that despite the stuffy nose and temperature, he was feeling a lot better than yesterday. 

After a moment of just sitting there, staring into space, someone behind him spoke.

“Hey, Hyrule.”

He quickly looked behind him and saw Wild sitting on a rock. “Oh. Hi.”

“Feeling better now? You seemed kinda out of it when we were setting up camp.”

“Yeah. I, uh, don’t really remember setting up camp, though.”

“Well, you did fall asleep almost as soon as we stopped here.”

“Oh. Huh.”

There was a bit of silence, neither of them really knowing what to say. There wasn’t much to say, really. 

Finally, Wild said, “I’ve been worried about you, y’know.”Hyrule looked up, brows furrowed. “Huh?”

“I’ve been worried. Like, yesterday you were all… I dunno. You looked like a zombie.”

“A… zombie? What’s that?”

“A dead person that’s been reanimated. They eat brains!”

“So… a redead.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You’re saying I looked like a redead?”

Wild shrugged. “Yeah. Kinda.”

Hyrule chuckled. “How, exactly?”

“Well, you were walking like one, and you looked so tired that you almost looked dead.” Wild paused. “Actually, to go back to my concern, why  _ were _ you so tired?”

“I… uh… I don’t know.”

Wild scrunched up his face in thought, then said, “Well, Twi said that you’re sick and so I shouldn’t take you out to explore, but I’ve never been that tired just from being sick, so there’s gotta be more to it. Have you, like, not been sleeping?”

Hyrule frowned. “I slept last night!”

“How long?”

“Uhhh… a couple hours?”

“How many? Eight? Four?”

“Er, four sounds right.”

“And when did you last sleep before that?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Hm. Yeah, that’s not good. You need to sleep more. Trust me, I’ve pulled a shit ton of all-nighters. I know what it feels like to be seriously sleep-deprived, and it’s not fun.”

Hyrule sighed. “Yeah. I usually try to sleep as much as I can, but it’s hard when you’re constantly on the run. Lately I’ve just… I… I don’t know. It’s like there’s something keeping me from sleeping.”

Wild smiled softly. “I get that. Sometimes I think too much to fall asleep, and other times I get a bad nightmare, or a memory in the form of a dream, and I can’t sleep afterwards. Sometimes I just don’t want to.” He paused, then softly said, “Sometimes I’m scared that I won’t wake back up. Not- not like dying. More like the Shrine of Resurrection. Like, maybe I’ll just sleep for another century and when I wake back up, you’ll all be gone.”

“That doesn’t sound fun.”

Wild chuckled. “It’s not. I wish I could just sleep like a normal person, but I guess shit just doesn’t work out that way.”

Hyrule laughed, holding the blanket tightly around himself. “I think I’m scared too. I said it’s hard sleeping when you’re always on the run earlier, yeah? Maybe that’s why it's hard. Maybe I’m just being too paranoid. I should just relax a little.” He paused.

“But it’s hard,” Wild filled in. “It’s hard to just relax.”

“Yeah. And… I guess I’m afraid that if I sleep, monsters will find and kill me, or something.”   
Wild grinned. “Well, as long as you’re with us, that won’t happen! We’ll always protect each other.”

Hyrule smiled. “I’m glad.”

  
  


He slept well that night, for the first time in ages.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner. no promises tho


End file.
